带 (dài): to bring

Meanings

1 to bring
2 to carry
3 to lead
4 to wear

Characters

带

dài

belt; to bring; to carry; to lead

Originally depicted a sash or belt tied around the waist — extended to mean 'carry along'.

Examples

记得带雨伞。

Jìde dài yǔsǎn.

Remember to bring an umbrella.

我带你去。

Wǒ dài nǐ qù.

I'll take you there.

他带着帽子。

Tā dài zhe màozi.

He's wearing a hat.

老师带我们参观。

Lǎoshī dài wǒmen cānguān.

The teacher led us on a tour.

Tips

mistakes

带 (dài, to bring/carry) vs 戴 (dài, to wear accessories). Same pronunciation, different characters: 带东西 (bring things), 戴帽子 (wear a hat). In practice, many people use 带 for both.

grammar

带 is versatile: 带东西 (bring things), 带孩子 (bring/take kids), 带路 (lead the way).

Components

radical

巾 jīn

cloth; towel

Bottom cloth radical (Kangxi #50) — the indexing radical, depicting a piece of fabric draping down. Anchors 带 firmly in the textile family: belt, sash, ribbon, then by extension 'to carry, to wear' (带钱包 carry a wallet, 带孩子 mind a child). Same radical groups 帮 (help — originally a leather backstrap), 帽 (hat), 帆 (sail).

pictograph

带 dài

ornamented belt with hanging tassels

Top six strokes — a fused pictograph of a belt with three hanging ornaments or tassels above a binding cord. Originally the whole graph depicted a sash with decorations dangling from it; modern type splits the image into upper hooks, a horizontal binding, and a covering cloth. Not cleanly decomposable into modern standalone components.