欠 (qiàn): to owe, to lack, (literary) to be deficient in
欠 (qiàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to owe.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺈ (structural) and 人 (structural). It ranks #1923 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 欠 a man 人 yawning ⺈. Its radical form 欠 (yawn) appears in many related characters such as 次 (cì, next in sequence), 欢 (huān, hubbub), 歌 (gē, song).
Definitions
- to owe
- to lack
- (literary) to be deficient in
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA man 人 yawning ⺈
Decomposition: ⿱⺈人 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 欠 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 欠债 | qiàn zhài | to owe a debt |
| 欠款 | qiàn kuǎn | to owe a debt |
| 欠缺 | qiàn quē | to be deficient in |
| 亏欠 | kuī qiàn | to have a deficit |
| 拖欠 | tuō qiàn | in arrears |
| 打哈欠 | dǎ hā qian | to yawn |
| 欠费 | qiàn fèi | to be in arrears |
| 呵欠 | hē qiàn | yawn |
| 哈欠 | hā qian | yawn |
| 欠佳 | qiàn jiā | suboptimal |
| 欠账 | qiàn zhàng | to owe a debt |
| 欠条 | qiàn tiáo | IOU |
| 欠妥 | qiàn tuǒ | improper |
| 欠安 | qiàn ān | ill (euphemism) |
| 两不相欠 | liǎng bù xiāng qiàn | to be even |
欠 appears in 31 compound words: 48 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 10 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 欠 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
欠字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
qiàn zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "欠" has different usages in different contexts.
蒋万安推3大新政挨批仓促上路 绿议员叹欠缺沟通:别把好事给做坏
蒋 wàn ān tuī 3 dà xīn zhèng āi pī cāng cù shàng lù lǜ yì yuán tàn qiàn quē gōu tōng : bié bǎ hǎo shì gěi zuò huài
Jiang Wan'an pushed the three new policies and was criticized for rushing on the road, and the green lawmaker lamented the lack of communication: Don't do good things badly
大市回稳但欠上冲动力
dà shì huí wěn dàn qiàn shàng chōng dòng lì
The market stabilized but lacked upward momentum
悚!知名餐厅女员工陈尸冰柜 生前欠债、心情低落
悚 ! zhī míng cān tīng nǚ yuán gōng chén shī bīng guì shēng qián qiàn zhài , xīn qíng dī luò
Scary! Chen Shi Freezer, a female employee of a well-known restaurant, owed debts and was depressed during her lifetime
钟柔美陷“A0”风波网民批人设崩坏欠公信力 詹天文11字吐真言
zhōng róu měi xiàn A 0 fēng bō wǎng mín pī rén shè bēng huài qiàn gōng xìn lì 詹 tiān wén 1 1 zì tǔ zhēn yán
Zhong Roumei was trapped in the "A0" turmoil, netizens criticized the collapse of the character design and lacked credibility, and Zhan Tianwen spoke the truth in 11 words
被欠钱“拖过年” 女撂男友讨债砍前任一家三代
bèi qiàn qián tuō guò nián nǚ 撂 nán yǒu tǎo zhài kǎn qián rèn yī jiā sān dài
Being owed money "dragged on for the New Year" The woman abandoned her boyfriend to collect debts and cut off three generations of her ex's family
汤姆欠玛丽许多钱。
Tāngmǔ qiàn Mǎlì xǔduō qián.
Tom owes Mary a lot of money.
这家企业近6个月以来一直在欠薪。
Zhè jiā qǐyè jìn 6 gè yuè yǐlái yīzhí zài qiànxīn.
The business hasn't been paying for the last six months.
关于那件事你欠我一个道歉。
Guānyú nà jiàn shì nǐ qiàn wǒ yī gè dàoqiàn.
You owe me an apology for that.
汤姆想去还欠的钱。
Tāngmǔ xiǎng qù hái qiàn de qián.
Tom wants to pay back the money he owes.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 欠 (qiàn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 欠 have?
What is the radical of 欠?
What are the components of 欠?
What are common words containing 欠?
What characters sound the same as 欠 (qiàn)?
Is 欠 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 欠 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.