Mnemonic comic for

Translation

cái = c + ai2: material / timber / ability / aptitude / a capable individual / coffin (old)

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.

In the airplane’s kitchen (ai2) , the King of Chu (c) investigates a Christmas tree (木) with his secret X-ray vision talent (才). He can see that the material (材) the tree is made out of is not timber (材); instead, he sees that the tree has been 3D printed.

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How to pronounce 材

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.

= c initial

C is for the King of Chu.

By Matthias • updated 3 months ago
+ ai2 final

In the airplane’s kitchen.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago

材 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
cái = c + ai2
ability / talent / sb of a certain type / a capable individual / then and only then / just now / (before an expression of quantity) only
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cái = c + ai2
(variant of 才[cai2]) just now / (before an expression of quantity) only
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= mu + Ø4
(bound form) tree / (bound form) wood / unresponsive; numb; wooden
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Characters with 材 as component

材 is not used as a component in another character.

Words with 材

show 40 more
material / data / makings / stuff / CL:個|个[ge4],種|种[zhong3]
(raw) material / data / (fig.) person who has the potential to do the job
stature / build (height and weight) / figure
Sentences with 材
材 currently does not appear in any sentence.

Want to remember 材 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.

cái

material / timber / ability / aptitude / a capable individual / coffin (old)

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