特 (tè): special, unique, distinguished
特 (tè) is a Chinese character meaning “special.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 牛 (semantic) and 寺 (phonetic). It ranks #173 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 特 ox. Its radical form 牛 (cow) appears in many related characters such as 牛 (niú, ox), 物 (wù, (bound form) thing), 牢 (láo, firm).
Definitions
- special
- unique
- distinguished
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 特
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 特别adjective/adverb | tè bié | unusual | 3 |
| 特殊adjective | tè shū | special | 5 |
| 独特adjective | dú tè | unique | 5 |
| 特征noun | tè zhēng | characteristic | 5 |
| 特定adjective | tè dìng | special | 6 |
| 特色noun | tè sè | a characteristic | 5 |
| 特点noun | tè diǎn | characteristic | 4 |
| 特意adverb | tè yì | specially | 6 |
| 特地adverb | tè dì | specially | 6 |
| 特长noun | tè cháng | personal strength | 6 |
| 特有adjective | tè yǒu | specific (to) | 5 |
| 特性noun | tè xìng | property | 6 |
| 模特儿noun | mó tè r | (fashion) model (loanword) | 6 |
| 特产noun | tè chǎn | special local product | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 模特noun | mó tè | (fashion) model (loanword) |
| 特工noun | tè gōng | secret service |
| 凯特 | kǎi tè | Kate (name) |
| 希特勒proper-noun | xī tè lè | Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) |
| 罗伯特proper-noun | luó bó tè | Robert (name) |
| 伏特measure | fú tè | (loanword) volt |
| 比特noun | bǐ tè | bit (binary digit) (loanword) |
| 卡特proper-noun | kǎ tè | (name) Carter |
| 福特proper-noun | fú tè | Ford (name) |
| 帕特里克proper-noun | pà tè lǐ kè | Patrick (name) |
| 特权noun | tè quán | prerogative |
| 波特proper-noun | bō tè | (loanword) baud (computing) |
| 特警noun | tè jǐng | SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) |
| 底特律proper-noun | dǐ tè lǜ | Detroit, Michigan |
| 夏洛特proper-noun | xià luò tè | Charlotte (name) |
特 appears in 127 compound words: 51 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 8 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 特 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (34)
Bayanhot (a town in Alxa Left Banner, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
to be as wrong as wrong can be; to be utterly wrong; to be grievously mistaken
(～氏) An ancient Mongolian clan; (～部) Dörbet (Mongolian tribe of Borjigit-clan origin)
Erenhot (a county-level city of Xilingol, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
Hamlet (name); the Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark c. 1601 by William Shakespeare 莎士比亞|莎士比亚
Hohhot (a prefecture-level city, the provincial capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
(～氏) An ancient Mongolian clan; (～部) Dörbet (Mongolian tribe of Borjigit-clan origin)
Erenhot (a county-level city of Xilingol, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
Hamlet (name); the Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark c. 1601 by William Shakespeare 莎士比亞|莎士比亚
Showing 12 of 34 idioms containing 特.
Example Sentences
他出现在会议现场时，大家都感到很惊讶。
Tā chūxiàn zài huìyì xiànchǎng shí, dàjiā dōu gǎndào hěn jīngyà.
When he appeared at the meeting site, everyone was very surprised.
马年“识局”6 | 不想当“跛脚鸭”,特朗普能否守..
mǎ nián shí jú 6 bù xiǎng dāng 跛 jiǎo yā , tè lǎng pǔ néng fǒu shǒu . .
Year of the Horse "Knowing the Situation" 6 | If you don't want to be a "lame duck", can Trump keep it?
美国这座机场要改名“唐纳德·特朗普国际机场”
měi guó zhè zuò jī chǎng yāo gǎi míng táng nà dé tè lǎng pǔ guó jì jī chǎng
The airport in the United States will be renamed "Donald Trump International Airport"
我的新年“特供”丨订单翻倍!小碗梨成春节假期“新宠....
wǒ de xīn nián tè gōng 丨 dìng shàn fān bèi ! xiǎo wǎn lí chéng chūn jié jiǎ qī xīn chǒng . . . .
My New Year's Special 丨 order doubled! The small bowl of pears became the Spring Festival holiday "new favorite ....
莎拉·杜特尔特宣布参加2028年菲律宾总统大选
莎 lā dù tè ěr tè xuān bù cān jiā nián 菲 lǜ bīn zǒng tǒng dà xuǎn
Sara Duterte announces her candidacy for the 2028 Philippine presidential election.
上午伊核下午俄乌,特朗普“谈判用人”引争议:派俩房..
shǎng wǔ yī hé xià wǔ é wū , tè lǎng pǔ tán pàn yòng rén yǐn zhēng yì pā liǎ fáng . .
Morning Iran, Afternoon Russia-Ukraine: Trump's "Negotiation Team" Sparks Controversy: Sending Two...
这种新型的城市生活有什么特点？
Zhèzhǒng xīnxíng de chéngshì shēnghuó yǒu shénme tèdiǎn?
What's new about this way of urban living?
你喜欢莫扎特的音乐吗？
Nǐ xǐhuan Mòzhātè de yīnyuè ma?
Do you like Mozart's music?
你在做什么特别的事吗？
Nǐ zài zuò shénme tèbié de shì ma?
Are you doing anything special?
笑是人类特有的吗？
Xiào shì rénlèi tèyǒu de ma?
Is laughter a quality of man only?
Character Family
牛 Radical Family — Characters sharing the cow radical
Homophones — Characters pronounced tè
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 特 (tè) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 特 and 持?
How many strokes does 特 have?
What is the radical of 特?
What are the components of 特?
What are common words containing 特?
What characters sound the same as 特 (tè)?
Is 特 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 特 with real-time feedback
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