扒

bā, pá
八 + 扌
HSK 2.0Level 6
HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

pá (verb) to dig; to rake up
pá (verb) to crawl; to climb
pá (verb) to steal
bā (verb) to peel; to skin
bā (verb) to pull down; to tear off

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 八 represents the sound.

Semantic: 扌 Phonetic: 八

About

扒 (bā or pá) is a character with two readings and a range of hand-related meanings: to pull out, strip off, dig up, or hold onto and climb. It is a phono-semantic compound: the left side is the hand radical 扌, marking it as a manual action, while the right side 八 (bā) provides the sound and does not carry its 'eight' meaning. The pronunciation shifts based on the action, bā when referring to stripping or digging, and pá when describing clinging and pulling oneself up or scrambling over obstacles.

Example Sentences Hide

妈妈扒开了香蕉。

Māma bākāile xiāngjiāo.

Mom peeled the banana.

他扒拉了几下米饭。

Tā bāla le jǐ xià mǐfàn.

He pushed the rice around a few times.

工人扒开了泥土。

Gōngrén bākāile nítǔ.

The worker dug up the soil.

小心扒手在车上。

Xiǎoxīn páshǒu zài chē shàng.

Be careful of pickpockets on the bus.

他因扒窃被逮捕了。

Tā yīn páqiè bèi dàibǔle.

He was arrested for theft.

她慢慢扒开厚厚的积雪。

Tā mànman bākāi hòuhòu de jīxuě.

She slowly cleared away the thick snow.

扒开草丛后，他发现了一只小猫。

Bākāi cǎocóng hòu, tā fāxiànle yī zhǐ xiǎo māo.

After pushing aside the grass, he found a kitten.

尽管警方加强了巡逻，扒窃事件仍时有发生。

Jǐnguǎn jǐngfāng jiāqiángle xúnluó, páqiè shìjiàn réng shí yǒu fāshēng.

Although the police have increased patrols, thefts still occur from time to time.

Related Characters

Component: 八

分 其 只 公 共 办 具 兵 火 八 六 兴 黄 父

Component: 扌

把 提 打 报 接 指 据 拉 持 技 找 推 投 护

Example Words

牛扒 猪扒 扒手 扒拉 扒皮 扒窃 扒车 扒开 鸡扒 吃里扒外 周扒皮 扒灰 扒饭