沏 (qī) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

沏

qī[qi1]Tone 1

to steep (tea)

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · to steep (tea)

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (氵) takes up about one-third of the horizontal space, leaving the right side (沏) slightly wider and balanced to prevent the character from tipping over.

1. Meaning

to steep tea, to infuse tea leaves in hot water

to brew hot water for a beverage

VerbNeutral#food and drink#actions#daily life

Sample Usage

我去沏杯茶。
Wǒ qù qī bēi chá.
I'm going to go steep a cup of tea.
这茶需要用开水沏。
Zhè chá xūyào yòng kāishuǐ qī.
This tea needs to be brewed with boiling water.

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

沏

qīqi1

¯(55)

=qī

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "i" 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 tongue flat 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 tip of the tongue rests behind the lower front teeth while the middle of the tongue rises toward the hard palate, releasing a sharp puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -ee as in 'see'

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

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

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a steady high pitch, similar to the flat pitch of saying 'A-ha!' or singing a high note in music without letting your voice drop.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse 'qī' with 'jī' (unaspirated). The 'q' in Pinyin requires an audible burst of breath, whereas 'j' is soft and breath-free.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A flat, high horizontal line held steady at the top of your vocal range, like a high singing note.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (氵) takes up about one-third of the horizontal space, leaving the right side (沏) slightly wider and balanced to prevent the character from tipping over.

4. Components

Radical 氵 · Water Radical (water, liquids, or liquids-related actions)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 氵 (indicates that the action involves water or liquids (steeping tea))

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 去 (original sound: qù / qī sound clue)

Water (氵) is added to going/leaving (去) to form 沏, representing hot water going over tea leaves to steep them.

氵 water semantic clue
去 phonetic and conceptual hint

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 切 (qiē)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the water radical (氵) indicating liquid and 去 (qù) providing the phonetic pronunciation as well as the sense of pouring water away or over.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred broadly to pouring or infusing liquids, it narrowed over time specifically to the preparation and steeping of tea leaves.

Tea culture in China made specialized verbs like '沏' essential for distinguishing boiling, brewing, and steeping.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You go (去) to the kitchen with water (氵) to STEEP (沏) a fresh hot cup of tea.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

切

qiēto cutPhonetic Core (声旁)

窃

qièto steal, secretly, (humble) I+ 穴 (cave)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

漆(qī)

漆 means lacquer or paint and features the water radical alongside 桼, whereas 沏 uses 去 for steeping tea.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

请帮我[___]一杯绿茶。

Clue: qī

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting to add a strong puff of air on the initial 'q', mispronouncing it as 'jī' or confusing it with general verbs for making drinks like '做' or '煮'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 沏, what action does it describe?

Production: How do you write the character for steeping tea, and what is its Pinyin?

沏qīto steep (tea)

Speed:

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