kuài
measure word HSK 1 #372

Meanings

  1. 1 piece
  2. 2 lump
  3. 3 yuan (unit of money)

Examples

HSK 1
Zhè ge duōshao kuài qián?
How much does this cost?
HSK 1
Gěi wǒ wǔ kuài qián.
Give me five yuan.
HSK 5
Yí kuài dàngāo.
A piece of cake.

Tips

usage
is the spoken form for the Chinese yuan (). In shops and conversation, everyone says . is used in writing and formal contexts.

Components

radical
earth (radical)
Left earth radical - the indexing radical, depicting a mound on a baseline. Originally meant 'a clod of earth' broken off the ground, hence the concrete sense 'lump, piece' and the colloquial yuán-quantifier 'a piece of money.' Same radical anchors ground, to sit, city wall.
phonetic
guài
decisive break
Right side supplies the sound - guài drifted to kuài via g→k alternation, with the rime preserved. Same phonetic series produces fast, to decide, to lack - all keep an echo of 's 'sharp break' meaning. Pure phonetic role; meaning is carried by .

Stroke Order

kuài