撬 (qiào) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

撬

qiào[qiao4]Tone 4

to pry open

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · to pry open

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (Hand radical 扌) occupies about one-third of the width, leaving the remaining two-thirds balanced for the complex right component 穹.

1. Meaning

to pry open, to lift or lever open using a tool

to extort or pump information out of someoneto poach personnel or ideas

VerbNeutral#action#tools#force

Sample Usage

小偷把门撬开了。
Xiǎotōu bǎ mén qiào kāi le.
The thief pried the door open.
他想从我这里撬出秘密。
Tā xiǎng cóng wǒ zhè lǐ qiào chū mìmì.
He wants to pry secrets out of me.

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

撬

qiàoqiao4

`(51)

=qiào

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

qiao

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: ch sound produced with the tongue blade flat against the palate

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Extremely strong burst of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST fly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue touches the back of the lower teeth while the front of the tongue rises to the hard palate, releasing a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

iao

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ee-ow rhyme

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'yow'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops immediately and forcefully to the bottom of your vocal range, exactly like shouting 'NO!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the aspirated palatal 'q' with the unaspirated 'j', or mixing up the 4th tone with the 2nd rising tone.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift, sharp chop of the hand downwards from the air, mirroring the angry drop of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (Hand radical 扌) occupies about one-third of the width, leaving the remaining two-thirds balanced for the complex right component 穹.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (Hand action, touching, or manipulation)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates an action performed with the hand or a tool)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 穹 (original sound: qiōng/qiào)

A hand (扌) reaches out to lift and pry open a vaulted cave roof or lid represented by the structure on the right (穹).

扌 Hand action
穹 Phonetic and structural component hinting at lifting or soaring

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 毳 (cuì)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) to show physical action and the phonetic element (穹), which originally conveyed the shape of a vaulted or arched roof that might be lifted or pushed up.

Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting the physical act of levering something upwards, it extended metaphorically to extracting information or poaching personnel.

The phonetic component 穹 originally meant 'sky' or 'dome', symbolizing something arched.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine using your hand (扌) to aggressively pry open a treasure chest whose lid is shaped like a vaulted dome (穹), shouting 'CHIAO!' as it pops open.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

毳

cuìcrisp; brittlePhonetic Core (声旁)

橇

qiāosled; sleigh+ 木 (tree)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

穷(qióng)

穷 lacks the hand radical (扌) and means poverty, whereas 撬 has the hand radical because you need your hands to pry something open.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

小偷用铁棍把窗户___开了。

Clue: qiào

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the hand radical (扌) on the left and accidentally writing 穹 instead.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 撬 mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to pry open' (qiào)?

撬qiàoto pry open

Speed:

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