骑 (qí) · to ride (a horse, bicycle, motorbike); to sit astride

Meanings

1 to ride (a horse, bicycle, motorbike); to sit astride

Characters

骑

qí

to ride; sit astride

Examples

HSK 3

他会骑马。

Tā huì qímǎ.

He can ride a horse.

HSK 3

我每天骑自行车上班。

Wǒ měitiān qí zìxíngchē shàngbān.

I ride a bicycle to work every day.

HSK 6

在城里骑摩托车很快但危险。

Zài chénglǐ qí mótuōchē hěn kuài dàn wēixiǎn.

Riding a motorbike in the city is fast but dangerous.

Tips

usage

Use 骑 only for things you straddle with a leg on each side: 骑马, 骑车, 骑摩托车. For cars and buses you sit inside, so use 开 (drive) or 坐 (sit / take).

memory

Picture a 马 (horse) on the left and 奇 (strange / odd) on the right: an 'odd-looking' posture on a horse - one leg dangling on each side. The right side also gives the sound qí.

Components

radical

马 mǎ

horse

Left horse radical (Kangxi #187) in its 3-stroke simplified form; traditional 馬 has 10 strokes. Carries the literal meaning - to mount and ride. Same radical heads 驾, 驶, 骏, 骄 - the equestrian and speed family.

phonetic

奇 qí

strange; odd

Right component supplies the sound qí - exact phonetic match, no tone shift. 奇 itself stacks 大 over 可, originally a one-legged stance; that asymmetric-posture nuance is sometimes read into 骑 as sitting astride (one leg each side), though most analyses treat it as purely phonetic. Same phonetic in 椅 (chair), 寄 (send), 倚 (lean on).