贷 (dài) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

贷

dài[dai4]Tone 4

to lend / to borrow / loan

HSK 5

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貸

Guru Deep Dive

English · to lend / to borrow / loan

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (代) should sit squarely over the bottom component (贝), keeping the horizontal width balanced so it does not lean left or right.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 貸 and simplified form 贷 share the exact same top and bottom structure; no significant stroke reduction occurred.

1. Meaning

to lend or borrow money/goods, often involving interest or repayment

a loanleniency or to pardonto make excuses

Verb / NounFormal / ProfessionalBound morpheme#finance#economy#transaction

Sample Usage

银行可以贷款给我吗？
Yínháng kěyǐ dàikuǎn gěi wǒ ma?
Can the bank give me a loan?
房贷的利率现在很低。
Fángdài de lìlǜ xiànzài hěn dī.
Mortgage interest rates are very low now.

2. Sound

/[taɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

贷

dàidai4

`(51)

=dài

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: English 'd' sound

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip taps against the alveolar ridge behind upper front teeth.

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 abruptly, just like saying 'No!' in anger or surprise.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 4 syllable, it softens slightly to a 53 contour.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with dài (代 - generation) which shares the exact same sound but has a different radical and meaning.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp karate chop downwards, mirroring the falling pitch of a firm command.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (代) should sit squarely over the bottom component (贝), keeping the horizontal width balanced so it does not lean left or right.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 貸 and simplified form 贷 share the exact same top and bottom structure; no significant stroke reduction occurred.

4. Components

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

Semantic Clue (形旁): 贝 (indicates that the meaning relates to money, finance, or transactions)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 代 (original sound: dai)

Combining 代 (substitute/generation, providing the sound 'dài') with 贝 (money/valuables) creates a character about substituting or transferring money—hence lending or borrowing.

代 Phonetic clue and meaning hint of substitution or handing over
贝 Semantic radical representing money or currency

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

7· Phonetic Root: 代 (dài)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Formed as a phono-semantic compound where 代 provides the pronunciation and 贝 (shells/money) supplies the financial domain meaning of handing over wealth temporarily.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to passing valuables between people (lending or borrowing), which later expanded to institutional loans, mortgages, and abstract concepts of granting leniency.

Because ancient Chinese currency consisted of cowrie shells, any character dealing with financial transactions, trade, or debt naturally incorporates the 贝 radical.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

đại

Mandarin Tone 4 corresponds to Vietnamese nặng or sắc depending on historical register; here it maps closely to a sharp falling tone.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: タイ (tai) / Kun: か.す (ka.su)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

대

Sound Shift Bridge: The root syllable 'dai' is preserved across East Asian Sino-readings (Mandarin dài, Japanese tai, Korean dae).

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You ask someone to **substitute** (代) their **money/shells** (贝) for yours, which means they have to **lend** (贷) it to you.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

代

dàigeneration, substituteWithout the money radical (贝), it means substitute or generation.

袋

dàibag, pocketAdds the cloth/covering radical (衣) on top to mean a pouch or bag.

玳

dàitortoiseshellAdds the king/jade radical (王) to refer to precious tortoiseshell material.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

代(dài)

代 means generation or substitute and lacks the 贝 (money) radical at the bottom.

袋(dài)

袋 has the 衣 (clothing) wrapper on top, meaning a bag, whereas 贷 has 贝 for financial loans.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这家银行可以为我们提供购房[___]。

Clue: dài kuǎn

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 贷 (dài, loan) with 货 (huò, goods/merchandise) because both share the bottom component 贝.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 贷, what two key elements does it combine and what is its primary meaning?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to lend / loan' (dài), and what radical indicates its financial nature?

贷dàito lend / to borrow / loan

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