退 (tuì) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

退

tuì[tui4]Tone 4

to retreat, withdraw, return

HSK 3

Guru Deep Dive

English · to retreat, withdraw, return

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the walking radical) should be compact and flow downwards, while the right component should stand balanced and slightly wider.

1. Meaning

to retreat or withdraw

to return or give back an itemto decline or shrink back

VerbNeutral#movement#action#interaction

Sample Usage

遇到困难时，我们不能后退。
yù dào kùn nan shí, wǒ men bù néng hòu tuì.
When encountering difficulties, we cannot retreat.
这件衣服买大了，我想去退掉。
zhè jiàn yī fu mǎi dà le, wǒ xiǎng qù tuì diào.
This piece of clothing was bought too big, I want to go return it.

2. Sound

/[tʰu̯eɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

退

tuìtui4

`(51)

=tuì

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: t sound as in English 'top'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Explosive puff of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST flutter.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth, then releases a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -way sound

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

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

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: ui is short for uei

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, matching an abrupt English command like 'Down!' or 'No!'.

👂

Listening trap: Mistaking the 'ui' (which sounds like -uei) for a pure -ui rhyme, or confusing the tone 4 drop with tone 3.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, decisive karate chop downwards from a high starting point to signify pulling back or retreating.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the walking radical) should be compact and flow downwards, while the right component should stand balanced and slightly wider.

4. Components

Radical 辶 · Walking Radical (Movement, walking, or motion)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 辶 (indicates movement or stepping away)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 艮 (original sound: gèn)

A person stepping backward (辶 walking radical) from a boundary or halt (艮 stopping/limit).

辶 Walking/movement
艮 Stopping or stiff limit

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

20· Phonetic Root: 艮 (gěn)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined the walking action (辶) with a phonetic and conceptual element (艮) representing a person stopping or turning back, signifying stepping away.

Semantic Evolution: From physical stepping backward or withdrawing troops, it generalized to returning items, backing out of agreements, and declining.

In ancient warfare, signalling troops to withdraw was a critical tactical command represented by this character.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: タイ / Kun: 退.く, 退.ける

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

퇴

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You are walking (辶) along when you hit a hard stop or limit (艮), so you instantly STEP BACKWARDS and RETREAT.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

很

hěnveryUses the heart/mind radical on the left (彳) instead of the walking radical (辶).

根

gēnrootUses the wood radical on the left (木) for tree roots.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

跟(gēn)

跟 means 'to follow' (with foot/footprint radical 足), whereas 退 means 'to retreat' (with walking/movement radical 辶).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

买的东西不合适，我想去商店[___]掉。

Clue: tuì

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the character with 跟 (gēn) due to the identical right-hand component (艮).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What action does 退 represent when you see it combined with the walking radical 辶 and limit 艮?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to retreat or return' (tuì) using the walking radical and the stop component?

退tuìto retreat, withdraw, return

Speed:

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