賽 (sài) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

賽

sài[sai4]Tone 4

competition

HSK 3

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赛

Guru Deep Dive

English · competition

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:17

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left side and right side balanced. The top shell structure sits atop the lower components neatly.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 賽 to 赛 by streamlining complex internal components into simpler standard components.

1. Meaning

competition, match, contest

to competeto surpasssuperior to

Noun / VerbNeutral#sports#contests#action

Sample Usage

我们要去参加比赛。
wǒ men yào qù cān jiā bǐ sài.
We are going to participate in a competition.
这场球赛非常精彩。
zhè chǎng qiú sài fēi cháng jīng cǎi.
This ball game match is extremely exciting.

2. Sound

/[saɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

賽

sàisai4

`(51)

=sài

Initial Consonant

Type: Dental Fricative

Sounds like: s like in 'sun'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Clear, steady sibilant hiss.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tip of the tongue approaches the back of the upper teeth with a narrow gap for airflow.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ai rhymes with 'eye'

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

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 sharply like an abrupt 'No!' or a sharp command.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing Tone 4 (51) with Tone 1 or Tone 3 due to hasty pronunciation; make sure it starts high and drops decisively.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, forceful karate chop downwards from head height to chest level, representing Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 17 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left side and right side balanced. The top shell structure sits atop the lower components neatly.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 賽 to 赛 by streamlining complex internal components into simpler standard components.

4. Components

Radical 贝 · Shell Radical (Money, wealth, or valuables)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 贝 (Indicates wealth, prizes, or stakes wagered in a competition.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 寒 (original sound: hán / sài phonetic influence)

The character combines the roof/building structure with inner elements and the shell (贝) at the bottom right, symbolizing people gathering under a roof to offer valuables as prizes in a contest.

宀 Roof
贝 Shell / Prize

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 宀 (mián)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted people exchanging or offering valuables under a roof in a ritual or contest, evolving later to mean a competition or match.

Semantic Evolution: From offering valuables/wagers in a contest to general matches, competitions, and surpassing others.

Ancient competitions often involved wagers of cowrie shells (贝), which explains the radical.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: サイ / Kun: きそ.う

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Under the roof (宀), people compete intensely to win the precious shell prizes (贝) stored inside.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

赛

sàicompetitionStandard character with shell radical.

寒

háncoldUses different bottom components representing ice rather than shells.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

寒(hán)

寒 means cold and has legs at the bottom, whereas 赛 has the shell (贝) at the bottom for competition prizes.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我們明天有一個重要的籃球___。

Clue: bǐ sài

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the high stroke count and miswriting the complex upper/middle structures or confusing 赛 with 寒.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 赛 mean when you see it in 比赛 (bǐsài)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'competition' or 'match' (sài)?

賽sàicompetition

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