才 (cái): ability, talent, sb of a certain type, a capable individual
才 (cái) is a Chinese character meaning “ability.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural). It ranks #235 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 才 a sprout growing in the ground, representing a budding talent. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- ability
- talent
- sb of a certain type
- a capable individual
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA sprout growing in the ground, representing a budding talent
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 才
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 刚才noun | gāng cái | just now | 3 |
| 天才noun | tiān cái | talent | 6 |
| 才华noun | cái huá | talent | 6 |
| 人才noun | rén cái | talent | 5 |
| 才能noun | cái néng | talent | 6 |
| 多才多艺phrase | duō cái duō yì | multitalented | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 才华横溢phrase | cái huá héng yì | brimming over with talent (esp. literary) |
| 才干noun | cái gàn | ability |
| 才智noun | cái zhì | ability and wisdom |
| 口才noun | kǒu cái | eloquence |
| 聪明才智phrase | cōng ming cái zhì | intelligence and ability |
| 奇才noun | qí cái | genius |
| 奴才noun | nú cai | slave |
| 才气noun | cái qì | talent (usually literary or artistic) |
| 江郎才尽phrase | jiāng láng cái jìn | Jiang Yan has exhausted his talent (idiom) |
| 全才noun | quán cái | all-rounder |
| 才子noun | cái zǐ | gifted scholar |
| 才女noun | cái nǚ | talented girl |
| 自学成才 | zì xué chéng cái | a self-made genius |
| 庸才noun | yōng cái | mediocrity |
| 成才verb | chéng cái | to make sth of oneself |
才 appears in 100 compound words: 29 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 27 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 才 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (29)
Showing 12 of 29 idioms containing 才.
Example Sentences
只有不断努力，才能实现自己的梦想。
Zhǐyǒu bùduàn nǔlì, cáinéng shíxiàn zìjǐ de mèngxiǎng.
Only through continuous effort can you realize your dreams.
谁才是降噪王者?Sony XM6、Bose ...
shéi cái shì jiàng zào wáng zhě ? S o n y X M 6 , B o s e . . .
Who is the king of noise reduction? Sony XM6、Bose ...
...普海湖庄园遭击毙 21岁嫌身分曝光!家人才刚报失踪
. . . pǔ hǎi hú zhuāng yuán zāo jī bì 2 1 suì xián shēn fēn pù guāng ! jiā rén cái gāng bào shī zōng
... Puhai Lake Manor was killed, and the identity of the 21-year-old suspect was exposed! The family has just been reported missing
...凌夺金后得悉外婆离世 记者会上哭说“昨晚才梦到她”
. . . líng duó jīn hòu dé xī wài pó lí shì jì zhě huì shàng kū shuō zuó wǎn cái mèng dào tā
... After winning the gold, he learned of his grandmother's death and cried at the press conference, saying, "I only dreamed of her last night."
苏翊鸣回应颁奖仪式上落泪,只有金牌才能升国旗奏国歌..
sū 翊 míng huí yīng bān jiǎng yí shì shǎng luò lèi , zhī yǒu jīn pái cái néng shēng guó qí zòu guó gē . .
Su Yiming responded to the award ceremony in tears, only gold medals to raise the national flag and play the national anthem...
年味里飘出就业香 海州乡土人才市集767个岗位引才..
nián wèi lǐ piāo chū jiù yè xiāng hǎi zhōu xiāng tǔ rén cái shì jí gě gāng wèi yǐn cái . .
The aroma of employment wafts out of the flavor of the year Haijhou Local Talent Bazaar 767 jobs to attract talent...
刚才和你说话的人是谁？
Gāngcái hé nǐ shuōhuà de rén shì shéi?
Who is the man that you were talking with?
我们怎样才能停止战争？
Wǒmen zěnyàng cáinéng tíngzhǐ zhànzhēng?
How can we abolish war?
不好意思，你刚才说什么？
Bù hǎoyìsi, nǐ gāngcái shuō shénme?
I'm sorry, but I didn't catch what you said.
刚才桌子上有一本书吗？
Gāngcái zhuōzi shàng yǒu yī běn shū ma?
Was there a book on the desk a moment ago?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 才 (cái)?
Is 才 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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