挺 (tǐng) · quite, rather, very

Meanings

1 quite
2 rather
3 very

Characters

挺

tǐng

quite; rather; straight; endure

Examples

HSK 1

今天挺冷的。

Jīntiān tǐng lěng de.

It's quite cold today.

HSK 1

这个菜挺好吃的。

Zhège cài tǐng hǎochī de.

This dish is quite tasty.

HSK 1

她挺漂亮的。

Tā tǐng piàoliang de.

She's quite pretty.

Tips

usage

挺 + adjective + 的 is the standard pattern. Very colloquial - more casual than 很.

mistakes

Don't forget the 的 at the end for natural-sounding sentences.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand

Hand radical on the left - the standing form of 手 with three strokes. Its meaning here is to do an action: pulling something straight, sticking out the chest, supporting a position. The radical anchors 挺 in the broader physical-effort family alongside 拉, 推, 抬 and 撑.

phonetic

廷 tíng

court; hall

廷 supplies the sound, tone-shifted to tǐng. It pictures a person standing upright in a courtyard - a fitting flavour for 挺 (to stand straight, to stick out). Same phonetic stem also feeds 庭 (courtyard) and 艇 (boat). The straight-spine image makes both sound and meaning easy to recall.