八 (bā): eight
八 (bā) is a Chinese character meaning “eight.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 八 (eight). It ranks #451 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 八 two bent lines meaning "to divide". Its radical form 八 (eight) appears in many related characters such as 六 (liù, six), 关 (guān, mountain pass), 兴 (xīng, to rise).
Definitions
- eight
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTwo bent lines meaning "to divide"
Stroke Order
Practice writing 八 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 王八noun | wáng ba | softshell turtle |
| 胡说八道 | hú shuō bā dào | to talk rubbish |
| 八卦noun | bā guà | the eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经 |
| 乱七八糟phrase | luàn qī bā zāo | (idiom) chaotic |
| 十八numeral | shí bā | eighteen |
| 三八adjective | sān bā | International Women's Day 婦女節|妇女节, 8th March |
| 八月noun | bā yuè | August |
| 八十numeral | bā shí | eighty |
| 丑八怪noun | chǒu bā guài | ugly person |
| 八哥noun | bā ge | (bird species of China) crested myna (Acridotheres cristatellus) |
| 四面八方 | sì miàn bā fāng | (idiom) all directions |
| 八度noun | bā dù | octave |
| 八字noun | bā zì | the character 8 or 八 |
| 五花八门 | wǔ huā bā mén | myriad |
| 八月份noun | bā yuè fèn | August |
八 appears in 106 compound words: 84 as the first character, 10 as the last, and 6 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 八 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (55)
Eight-Nation Alliance, involved in a military intervention in northern China in 1900
Eight Banners system, the military and social organization of the Manchus between c. 1500 and 1911
Showing 12 of 55 idioms containing 八.
Example Sentences
八仙过海，各显神通，每个人都有自己的特长。
Bā xiān guò hǎi, gè xiǎn shéntōng, měi gè rén dōu yǒu zìjǐ de tècháng.
The Eight Immortals cross the sea, each showing their magical powers; everyone has their own strengths.
食八宝饭误吞枣核 62岁翁肚大如孕妇
shí bā bǎo fàn wù tūn zǎo hé 6 2 suì wēng dù dà rú yùn fù
Eating eight treasure rice and mistakenly swallowing jujube kernels, the 62-year-old man's belly is as big as a pregnant woman
春节假期第八天全国各地迎返程车流客流高峰
chūn jié jiǎ qī dì bā tiān quán guó gè dì yíng fǎn chéng chē liú kè liú gāo fēng
On the eighth day of the Spring Festival holiday, all parts of the country welcomed the peak of return traffic and passenger flow
年初八拜天公是否可燃放爆竹 胡栋强促倪可敏交代
nián chū bā bài tiān gōng shì fǒu kě rán fàng bào zhú hú dòng qiáng cù 倪 kě mǐn jiāo dài
On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, whether it is possible to set off firecrackers Hu Dong forced Ni Kemin to explain
跨越八百里守护 湘雅医院助超早产三胞胎平安回家...
kuà yuè bā bǎi lǐ shǒu hù 湘 yǎ yī yuàn zhù chāo zǎo chǎn sān bāo tāi píng ān huí jiā . . .
Spanning 800 miles to protect Xiangya Hospital to help ultra-premature triplets return home safely...
斯诺克球员锦标赛:赵心童晋级 八强赛将战肖恩·墨菲
sī nuò kè qiú yuán jǐn biāo sài zhào xīn tóng jìn jí bā qiáng sài jiāng zhàn xiāo ēn mò 菲
Snooker Players Championship: Zhao Xintong advances to face Shaun Murphy in last eight
去年八月份你在哪儿？
Qùnián bāyuèfèn nǐ zài nǎr?
Where were you in August last year?
刚刚敲过了八点钟，不是吗？
Gānggang qiāo guo le bā diǎnzhōng, bù shì ma?
It has just struck eight, hasn't it?
对了，你明天真的八点工作？
Duìle, nǐ míngtiān zhēn de bā diǎn gōngzuò?
Hey, are you really going to work at eight tomorrow?
你太会胡说八道了！
Nǐ tài huì húshuōbādào le!
You are so full of crap!
Character Family
八 Radical Family — Characters sharing the eight radical
Frequently Asked Questions
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Practice writing 八 with real-time feedback
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