盜 (dào) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

盜

dào[dao4]Tone 4

to steal

HSK 6

View Simplified FormSwitch to Simplified

盗

Guru Deep Dive

English · to steal

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:11

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (次) is narrower and lighter, while the right side (皿) is broader and anchors the lower base of the character.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 盜 contains the component 鬲 (cauldron) at the top, which was simplified in the modern character 盗 to 次 for easier handwriting.

1. Meaning

to steal, to rob, to plunder

thiefbanditrobber

Verb / NounFormal / Literary#crime#law#action

Sample Usage

他的钱包被盗了。
Tā de qiánbāo bèi dào le.
His wallet was stolen.
防盗门
fángdàomén
security door (anti-theft door)

2. Sound

/[tɑʊ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

盜

dàodao4

`(51)

=dào

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound like in English 'do'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge or back of upper teeth, releasing cleanly without a burst of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -ao rhymes with the sound in 'ow' or 'cow'

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

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 straight down, exactly like saying a firm command in English: 'No!' or 'Stop!'.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial 'd' with 't' (which is strongly aspirated), or mixing up the Tone 4 falling pitch with Tone 3 dipping pitch.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 is a sharp downward nod, like nodding 'yes' decisively or shouting 'Hey!' in annoyance. Your hand moves quickly from high to low.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (次) is narrower and lighter, while the right side (皿) is broader and anchors the lower base of the character.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 盜 contains the component 鬲 (cauldron) at the top, which was simplified in the modern character 盗 to 次 for easier handwriting.

4. Components

Radical 皿 · Dish Radical (dish, vessel, container)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 皿 (indicates valuable vessels or goods being targeted for theft)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 次 (original sound: dao)

A thief (次 - standing next in line to take something) targets valuable vessels and goods in a container (皿).

次 phonetic clue and secondary sequence meaning
皿 dish or container representing valuable possessions

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally composed of elements representing a person dipping into or taking things from a food vessel (皿), evolving to represent plunder and theft.

Semantic Evolution: From the physical act of pilfering from containers or homes, it generalized to any form of stealing, robbery, or banditry in modern Chinese.

In classical texts, it frequently describes marauders, bandits, or stealing state resources.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

đạo

Corresponds to the Vietnamese sắc/nặng tone area with a checked or smooth glottal register depending on historical entering tones.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: トウ (tō) / Kun: ぬす.む (nusumu)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

도

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A sneaky thief takes your next-in-line (次) valuable dishes right out of the container (皿).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

瓷

cíporcelainUses the tile/ceramic radical (瓦) on the left instead of getting mixed up with stealing.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

殻(ké)

殻 means shell and has a different right-hand structure, whereas 盗 features 皿 at the bottom.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

警察迅速破獲了這起珠寶___.盜

Clue: dào

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the simplified top component (次) with similar radicals like 氵 or writing the bottom dish (皿) too compressed.

Memory Prompts

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

Production: How do you write the character for 'to steal' (dào) using the dish radical?

盜dàoto steal

Speed:

Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...

0 / 0