Mnemonic comic for

Translation

shàng = sh + ang4: (bound form) up; upper; above; previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb; to get onto; to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on; above

Mnemonic

A mnemonic is a short, deliberately ridiculous scene, built to be hard to forget. Who appears in it and where it takes place are how the pronunciation is stored; the objects in it stand for the parts the character is written with. That is the Marilyn Method, and the comic below is the same scene, drawn.

Mnemonic symbol: as in the movie “Up”, someone will be using lots of balloons to send something on a long journey. Sherlock Holmes (sh) prepares to take off in the anglepod’s bathroom (ang4). He fixed a lot of balloons (上) to a flute (一), on which he plans to sit during his journey. At this moment the flute is only held back by the 90 degree corner clamp (丄) which is fixing it to the ground.

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All translations for 上

shǎng = sh + ang3
used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1]
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shàng = sh + ang4
(bound form) up; upper; above; previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb; to get onto; to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on; above
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How to pronounce 上

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= sh initial

Sh is for Sherlock Holmes.

By Matthias • updated about 1 month ago
+ ang3 final

In the anglepod’s living room.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago
= sh initial

Sh is for Sherlock Holmes.

By Matthias • updated about 1 month ago
+ ang4 final

In the anglepod’s bathroom.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago

上 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
Character component without intrinsic meaning
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= y + Ø1
one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
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gǔn = gu + (e)n3
radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 2)
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shù = shu + Ø4
vertical stroke (in Chinese characters), referred to as 豎筆|竖笔[shu4 bi3]
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èr = Ø + Ø4
two / 2 / (Beijing dialect) stupid
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shàng = sh + ang4
old variant of 上[shang4]
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Characters with 上 as component

= k + a3
to stop / to block / (computing) (coll.) slow / (loanword) card / CL:張|张[zhang1],片[pian4] / truck (from "car") / calorie (abbr. for 卡路里[ka3 lu4 li3]) / cassette
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qiǎ = qi + a3
to block / to be stuck / to be wedged / customs station / a clip / a fastener / a checkpost / Taiwan pr. [ka3]
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zhǐ = zh + Ø3
to stop / to prohibit / until / only
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Words with 上

show 919 more
at once / right away / immediately / on horseback (i.e. by military force)
evening / night / CL:個|个[ge4] / in the evening
Sentences with 上
ǎn
lǎo
sūn
shàng
tiān
 
 
 
 
suǒ
néng

Want to remember 上 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

shǎng / shàng

2 translations

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