八 (bā) · eight, 8

Meanings

1 eight
2 8

Characters

八

bā

eight

Examples

HSK 1

我有八个苹果。

Wǒ yǒu bā gè píngguǒ.

I have eight apples.

HSK 1

现在八点了。

Xiànzài bā diǎn le.

It's eight o'clock now.

HSK 1

现在是八月八号。

Xiànzài shì bā yuè bā hào.

It's August 8th today.

Tips

culture

八 is the luckiest number in Chinese culture because it sounds like 发 in 发财 (to get rich). Phone numbers and license plates with 八 sell for premium prices. The Beijing Olympics opened on 08/08/08 at 8:08:08 PM.

memory

The character 八 looks like two lines splitting apart - think of it as splitting something into eight pieces.

Components

ideograph

八 bā

eight; (originally) to divide

Abstract ideograph - two strokes splaying outward from a centre, originally picturing division or splitting (a thing parted in two). The eight meaning is a phonetic loan that displaced the original sense, which lives on as Kangxi radical #12. As a radical, 八 still indexes division-and-apportionment characters: 公 (public), 共 (together), 分 (divide), 兵 (soldier).

Radical

Eight Kangxi #12

The 八 radical, originally a pictograph of two lines splitting apart (Shuowen: 别也). Indexes characters that involve division or pairing of opposite halves (公, 六, 兮, 共, 兵) even where the modern meaning has drifted far from the original sense of separation.