计

計
jì
verb HSK 7-9 #3,728

Meanings

  1. 1 to calculate; to count
  2. 2 plan; scheme; strategy
  3. 3 meter; gauge

Examples

HSK 4
Wǒmen yào jìhuà yíxià zhècì lǚxíng.
We need to plan this trip.
HSK 5
Shèjì de hěn piàoliang.
The design is very beautiful.
HSK 5
Búyào jìjiào nàme duō.
Don't be so calculative about things.

Tips

usage
计 is used in many compounds: 计划 (plan), 设计 (design), 计算 (calculate), 统计 (statistics), 会计 (accounting), 计较 (haggle/be fussy about).

Components

radical
讠 yán
speech (radical form of 言)
Speech radical (simplified from 言) - anchors 计 in the realm of verbal reckoning: counting aloud, stating a plan, articulating a strategy. Calculation in classical China was done by speaking numbers as the abacus moved. Same radical in 论 (discuss), 议 (deliberate), 讲 (speak).
semantic
十 shí
ten
十 (ten) on the right - semantic component. Ten is the base of the decimal system, the foundation of all counting. Compound ideograph: speech + ten = to count aloud, to enumerate, to calculate. Not phono-semantic - the meaning emerges from the combined image of verbalised counting.

Stroke Order

计 jì