錯 (cuò) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

錯

cuò[cuo4]Tone 4

mistake, wrong, bad

HSK 1

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错

Guru Deep Dive

English · mistake, wrong, bad

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (钅) is narrower and compressed to the left, while the right component (昔) occupies more space and must be balanced evenly with its horizontal strokes.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 錯 by replacing the complex traditional phonetic/semantic component with its standardized simplified form.

1. Meaning

mistake, wrong

badinterlockingcomplexto grindto polishto alternateto staggerto missto let slipto evadeto inlay with gold or silversurname Cuo

Adjective / Noun / VerbNeutral#judgment#morality#quality#action#craftsmanship

Sample Usage

我做错了。
Wǒ zuò cuò le.
I made a mistake.
这不是你的错。
Zhè bú shì nǐ de cuò.
This is not your fault.

2. Sound

/[tsʰu̯ɔ˥˩]/Tone: 51

錯

cuòcuo4

`(51)

=cuò

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Dental Sibilant

Sounds like: ts sound as in 'cats'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Sharp burst of air through teeth! Tissue MUST flutter strongly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the back of the lower front teeth, releasing a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'wa-oh' or 'war'

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

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 to the bottom of your vocal range, exactly like a sharp command of 'Stop!'

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the affricate 'c' [tsʰ] with the retroflex 'zh' [tʂ] or the plain alveolar 'z' [ts]. 'Cuò' starts with a sharp, forceful 'ts' sound accompanied by a burst of air.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 is a sharp downward slash, like nodding your head firmly in disagreement or shouting 'No!'

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (钅) is narrower and compressed to the left, while the right component (昔) occupies more space and must be balanced evenly with its horizontal strokes.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 錯 by replacing the complex traditional phonetic/semantic component with its standardized simplified form.

4. Components

Radical 钅 · Metal radical (Metal, gold, mineral)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 钅 (Metal/mineral base, historically referring to metal tools used for grinding or inlaying.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 昔 (original sound: xī / cuò)

Metal (钅) combined with past/former (昔) gives the idea of metal being ground down or altered from its original form, leading to flaws or 'mistakes'.

钅 Metal radical
昔 Phonetic and historical semantic clue meaning past or former

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally written with the metal radical (金) and 昔 to denote inlaying metal objects or grinding metal tools. Over time, the extended meaning of 'flaw', 'error', or 'wrong' took over as the primary usage.

Semantic Evolution: From grinding or inlaying metal to finding a flaw or mismatch in the work, eventually generalizing to any 'mistake' or 'wrong'.

The ancient art of inlaying gold or silver into bronze vessels used the root character 錯.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: サク (saku) / ショウ (shō) / Kun: あヤマる (ayamaru)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

착

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You take a piece of METAL (钅) and grind it down because of a PAST (昔) mistake, proving that nobody is perfect.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

借

jièto borrowUses the person radical (亻) instead of metal (钅).

错

cuòmistake, wrongUses the metal radical (钅).

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

借(jiè)

借 uses the person radical (亻) for borrowing between people, while 错 uses metal (钅) for a hard mistake.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

這件事情是我做[___]了。

Clue: cuò

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the initial 'c' sound with an English 'ch' sound or forgetting that it is a strongly aspirated 'ts' sound.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 错 (cuò) mean when you see it in a sentence?

Production: How do you write the character for 'mistake' (cuò) using the metal radical?

錯cuòmistake, wrong, bad

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