欠 (qiàn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

欠

qiàn[qian4]Tone 4

to owe / to lack / yawn

HSK 5

Guru Deep Dive

English · to owe / to lack / yawn

Cached lesson

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Topology:Single character

Strokes:4

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the top right strokes balanced and ensure the bottom stretching stroke flows gracefully to the right.

1. Meaning

to owe someone something or to lack something essential

to be deficient into yawn (literary or bound form)to raise slightly a part of one's body

VerbNeutral#finance#obligation#body action

Sample Usage

我欠你一个人情。
Wǒ qiàn nǐ yí gè rénqíng.
I owe you a favor.
睡眠欠佳。
Shuìmián qiàn jiā.
Sleep quality is deficient/lacking.

2. Sound

/[tɕʰi̯ɛn⁵¹]/Tone: 51

欠

qiànqian4

`(51)

=qiàn

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: ch sound produced with blade of tongue near the roof of the mouth

Aspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: The blade of the tongue is close to the hard palate, releasing a sharp burst of air.

Final Rhyme

ian

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ee-an combined into a single smooth rhyme

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

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 plunges sharply down, just like saying 'No!' in English when refusing to pay an unwanted debt.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse 'qiàn' with 'qián' (money). 'qiàn' ends with an 'n' and uses Tone 4 (falling), whereas 'qián' also uses Tone 2 (rising) or has a slight nasal distinction.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A quick downward chop with your hand, mirroring a stern head nod representing a debt that must be settled immediately.

3. Writing

Topology: Single character · Strokes: 4 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the top right strokes balanced and ensure the bottom stretching stroke flows gracefully to the right.

4. Components

Radical 欠 · Yawn Radical (deficiency, opening mouth, yawn)

Originally depicted a person with an open mouth exhaling or yawning, visually implying a lack of air or a void that needs filling (hence 'to lack' or 'to owe').

欠 Represents a person opening their mouth wide to yawn or experiencing a deficiency.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

16· Phonetic Root: 欠 (qiàn)

5. History

Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)

Origin: In Oracle Bone script, '欠' was drawn as a person standing with their mouth wide open, representing breathing out, panting, or yawning.

Semantic Evolution: From the physical act of opening the mouth to exhale or yawn, it extended to mean a lack of breath, then a general deficiency, and later financial or moral indebtedness (owing someone).

As a radical, '欠' often appears on the right side of characters related to breathing, coughing, or longing.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ケン (ken) / Kun: 欠ける (kakeru), かく (kaku)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

欠

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a person who yawned so wide ('欠') that they now owe money for dental repairs because their jaw cracked!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

次

cìnext, orderAdded two water drops or ice lines on the left.

欣

xīnhappy, delightedAdded an axe/斧 radical on the left.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

次(cì)

'次' has two dots on the left (ice/water or side radical), whereas '欠' is standalone.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我[___]他一张 100 块钱。

Clue: qiàn

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone of 'qiàn' (Tone 4) with Tone 1 or Tone 2, leading native speakers to misunderstand it as money ('qián').

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character '欠' mean when used as a verb for money or favors?

Production: How do you write the 4-stroke character meaning 'to owe' or 'yawn'?

欠qiànto owe / to lack / yawn

Speed:

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