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CHINESE CHARACTER

jiǎn

剪

剪

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shears

Numbered pinyin
jian3
English meanings
surname Jian, scissors, shears, clippers, CL:把[ba3], to cut with scissors, to trim, to wipe out or exterminate

Stroke practice

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BUILDING BLOCKS

Structure & components

Top–bottom structure

Top–bottom arrangement: top 前; bottom 刀.

  • Top

    前
    Explore parts · Top–bottom
    • Top

      ⿱
      Explore parts · Top–bottom
    • Bottom

      刖
      Explore parts · Left–right
  • Bottom

    刀

Meaning & sound clues

刀 is identified as the meaning component, associated with “knife”.

前 is identified as the sound component (qián). Its pronunciation may differ from the modern pronunciation of 剪.

This breakdown describes the written shape. A component's meaning does not always explain the meaning of the whole character.

Decomposition reference

⿱前刀

Source: Make Me a Hanzi (LGPL-3.0-or-later)
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Homophones

Characters with the same pinyin, regardless of tone.

Example sentences

Read the Chinese sentence, then check its English translation.

  1. 01

    jiǎn剪tóufa头发。

    Cut hair.

  2. 02

    jiǎn剪kāi开。

    Cut open.

  3. 03

    jiǎn剪yī一jiǎn剪。

    Trim it.

  4. 04

    jiǎn剪zhǐ纸。

    Paper cutting.

  5. 05

    jiǎn剪duǎn短。

    Cut short.

  6. 06

    bié别luàn乱jiǎn剪。

    Don't cut randomly.

Explore words connected to this character.

  • 剪刀
  • 剪子