条 (tiáo): strip, item, article

条 (tiáo) is a Chinese character meaning “strip.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 夂 (structural) and 木 (structural). It ranks #214 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. strip
  2. item
  3. article

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Practice writing 条 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 条

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
面条儿nounmiàn tiáo rerhua variant of 麵條|面条1
条件nountiáo jiàncondition4
油条nounyóu tiáoyoutiao (deep-fried breadstick)5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
条子nountiáo zishort note
纸条nounzhǐ tiáoslip of paper
薯条nounshǔ tiáofrench fries
面条nounmiàn tiáonoodles
条款nountiáo kuǎnclause (of contract or law)
条例nountiáo lìregulations
条约nountiáo yuētreaty
字条nounzì tiáobrief note
条纹nountiáo wénstripe
线条nounxiàn tiáoline (in drawing, calligraphy etc)
苗条adjectivemiáo tiao(of a woman) slim
便条nounbiàn tiáo(informal) note
无条件verbwú tiáo jiànunconditional
萧条adjectivexiāo tiáobleak
信条nounxìn tiáocreed
103
Total compounds
22
As first character
70
As last character
8
As middle character

条 appears in 103 compound words: 22 as the first character, 70 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 条 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

线xiàn
0.54141,334 co-occurrences
约yuē
0.53531,376 co-occurrences
纹wén
0.5336,012 co-occurrences
件jiàn
0.50861,809 co-occurrences
款kuǎn
0.49815,040 co-occurrences
滋zī
0.47026 co-occurrences
沿yán
0.45833 co-occurrences
关guān
0.45820,502 co-occurrences
规guī
0.44610,554 co-occurrences
萧xiāo
0.4342,138 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (11)

必要条件bìyào tiáojiànHSK 3+

necessary condition

noun
经济萧条jīng jì xiāo tiáoHSK 7+

economic depression

phrase
井井有条jǐngjǐngyǒutiáoHSK 6+

neat and tidy; in perfect order; systematic

phrase
慢条斯理màntiáosīlǐHSK 7+

unruffled; calm; unhurried

phrase
南京条约nán jīng tiáo yuēHSK 4+

Treaty of Nanjing (1842) that concluded the First Opium War between Qing China and Britain

phrase
条分缕析tiáofēnlǚxīHSK 7+

to make a careful and detailed analysis; to analyze thoroughly point by point

phrase
条件反射tiáo jiàn fǎn shèHSK 6+

conditioned reflex

phrase
条条框框tiáotiáokuàngkuàngHSK 7+

rigid and inflexible rules

phrase
头条新闻tóu tiáo xīn wénHSK 3+

top news story

phrase
先决条件xiānjué tiáojiànHSK 3+

prerequisite; presupposition; precondition

noun
有条不紊yǒutiáobùwènHSK 7+

in perfect order; methodically arranged

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这条河的水很清澈,可以看到鱼儿游来游去。

Zhè tiáo hé de shuǐ hěn qīngchè, kěyǐ kàn dào yúr yóu lái yóu qù.

The water in this river is very clear; you can see fish swimming around.

TvbsFeb 2026

年后跳槽快看!劳动部祭“课程奖励金”条件曝 最高领100万

nián hòu tiào cáo kuài kàn ! láo dòng bù jì kè chéng jiǎng lì jīn tiáo jiàn pù zuì gāo lǐng 1 0 0 wàn

Jump to work after the year! The Ministry of Labor offered "course incentives" conditions to receive up to 1 million

WorldjournalFeb 2026

米兰大教堂雕像 赞助修复便可有条件借展

mǐ lán dà jiào táng diāo xiàng zàn zhù xiū fù biàn kě yǒu tiáo jiàn jiè zhǎn

Statues of Milan Cathedral can be loaned conditionally if they sponsor the restoration

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

美关税新变局 涉外人士:审慎应对301条款调查

měi guān shuì xīn biàn jú shè wài rén shì : shěn shèn yīng duì 3 0 1 tiáo kuǎn diào chá

New changes in U.S. tariffs Foreign-related people: Prudently respond to Section 301 investigations

三立新聞網Feb 2026

港男陈尸五星饭店 房内留心酸字条死因曝

gǎng nán chén shī wǔ xīng fàn diàn fáng nèi liú xīn suān zì tiáo sǐ yīn pù

Hong Kong man Chen Shi five-star hotel pay attention to the sour note in the room The cause of death was exposed

百度新闻Feb 2026

欧洲头条丨慕尼黑的沉默,比争吵更刺耳

ōu zhōu tóu tiáo 丨 mù ní hēi de chén mò , bǐ zhēng chǎo gēng cī ěr

European headlines丨Munich's silence, more harsh than the quarrels

Tatoeba

请你给我看一下这条裙子好吗?

Qǐng nǐ gěi wǒ kàn yīxià zhè tiáo qúnzi hǎo ma?

Can you show me this skirt please?

Tatoeba

这条鱼还是活的吗?

Zhè tiáo yú háishi huó de ma?

Is this fish still alive?

Tatoeba

你能回答这条问题吗?

Nǐ néng huídá zhè tiáo wèntí ma?

Can you answer this question?

Tatoeba

那条裙子你买了多少钱?

Nà tiáo qúnzi nǐ mǎi le duōshao qián?

How much did you pay for the dress?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced tiáo

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 条 (tiáo) mean in Chinese?
条 (tiáo) primarily means "strip." It is classified as HSK Level 1, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #214 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 条 have?
条 is written with 7 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 条?
The radical associated with 条 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 条?
条 is composed of: 夂 (structural), 木 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱夂木 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 条?
Common words with 条 include: 面条儿 (miàn tiáo r, "erhua variant of 麵條|面条"); 条件 (tiáo jiàn, "condition"); 条子 (tiáo zi, "short note"); 纸条 (zhǐ tiáo, "slip of paper"); 薯条 (shǔ tiáo, "french fries"). There are over 103 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 条 (tiáo)?
Several characters share the pronunciation tiáo: 跳 (to jump), 挑 (to carry on a shoulder pole). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 条 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 条 and the traditional form is 條.

Practice writing 条 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.