How to say “poor” in Chinese
poor, bad; be short of
“Poor” in Chinese is 差, chà: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
差 is read chà. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
差不多 is “lacking a little”, that is, “almost”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “差”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 差. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我还差两块钱wǒháichàliǎngkuàiqiánI’m still two yuan short.
- 我今天差点儿迟到。wǒjīntiānchàdiǎnrchídàoI was almost late today.
- 我差点儿忘了带护照wǒchàdiǎnrwàngledàihùzhàoI almost forgot to bring my passport.
- 我差点儿没赶上火车。wǒchàdiǎnrméigǎnshànghuǒchēI almost missed the train.
- 我差点儿没赶上飞机wǒchàdiǎnrméigǎnshàngfēijīI almost missed the plane.
- 我下周去外地出差wǒxiàzhōuqùwàidìchūchāiNext week I'm going on a business trip to another city.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Prices down to the last coin”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “poor” in Chinese?
“Poor” in Chinese is 差, pinyin chà.
What does 差 mean?
差 (chà) means “poor, bad; be short of”.
How do you write 差?
差 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 差?
差 is read chà. Tones: chà — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“poor” in the lesson “Prices down to the last coin”
This word is from the topic “Shopping and things” of HSK 3. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free