钱 (qián): money

Meanings

1 money

Characters

钱

qián

money

钅 (metal) + 戋 (small) — small pieces of metal used as currency.

Examples

这个多少钱？

Zhè ge duōshao qián?

How much does this cost?

我没带钱。

Wǒ méi dài qián.

I didn't bring money.

现在很多人用手机付钱。

Xiànzài hěn duō rén yòng shǒujī fù qián.

Nowadays many people pay with their phones.

Tips

culture

China is one of the most cashless societies in the world. Mobile payments via WeChat Pay and Alipay are used almost everywhere, even at street food stalls.

history

The traditional character 錢 contains the metal radical 金, because ancient Chinese money was made from bronze coins.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal; gold (radical form)

Left metal-radical 钅 (the side/contracted form of 金) — the indexing radical. Coins were cast bronze and copper; the metal-radical anchors 钱 in the family of metal-implement words: 银 (silver), 铜 (copper), 铁 (iron), 锅 (pot). Money begins as metal.

phonetic

戋 jiān

small; trifling

Right 戋 supplies the sound (jiān → qián, a regular palatal alternation) and a faint semantic flavour: 戋 means 'small, trifling' — a single coin is a small piece of metal. Phonetic family: 浅 (shallow), 贱 (cheap), 残 (incomplete) — all on 戋, all carrying a 'small/diminished' nuance.