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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

我们要计划一下这次旅行。
Wǒmen yào jìhuà yíxià zhècì lǚxíng.
We need to plan this trip.
设计得很漂亮。
Shèjì de hěn piàoliang.
The design is very beautiful.
不要计较那么多。
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