题 (tí): question; problem

Measure Word

一道题 dào

Meanings

1 question; problem
2 topic

Characters

题

tí

topic; question; title

Examples

HSK 2

这道题太难了。

Zhè dào tí tài nán le.

This question is too hard.

HSK 2

老师出了五道题。

Lǎoshī chū le wǔ dào tí.

The teacher gave five questions.

HSK 2

我们今天讨论什么题？

Wǒmen jīntiān tǎolùn shénme tí?

What topic are we discussing today?

Tips

grammar

Use 道 as the measure word for questions/problems: 一道题, 两道题.

usage

题 appears in many compounds: 问题 (question/problem), 难题 (difficult problem), 题目 (title/topic).

Components

radical

页 yè

head; page (radical)

Right indexing radical 页 - originally pictured a head with hair, now generalized to head-words and topics. 题 once meant 'forehead / inscription on the forehead,' from which the 'topic, title, question' senses spread. Same radical anchors 颜 (face), 颈 (neck), 顶 (top).

phonetic

是 shì

to be (here phonetic)

Left-cradle 是 supplies the sound (shì → tí, with the dental t/sh alternation typical of this phonetic family). The copula meaning of 是 doesn't carry. The phonetic recurs cleanly in 提 (tí, lift), 堤 (dī, dike), 醍 (tí, tea-color) - a tightly clustered series in modern Mandarin.