Mnemonic comic for

Translation

huài = hu + ai4: bad / spoiled / broken / to break down / (suffix) to the utmost

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 bathroom (ai4), there is a clear sign that it is forbidden (不) to enter the room with dirty feet. Helga Horse (hu) is quite spoiled (坏) though, so she enters right after she went to the muddy stables and spreads dirt (土) all around.

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How to pronounce 坏

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.

= hu initial

Hu is for Helga Horse.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago
+ ai4 final

In the airplane’s bathroom.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago

坏 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
= bu + Ø4
no; not so / (bound form) not; un-
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= tu + Ø3
Tu (ethnic group) / surname Tu
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= tu + Ø3
earth / dust / clay / local / indigenous / crude opium / unsophisticated / one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音[ba1 yin1]
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Characters with 坏 as component

坏 is not used as a component in another character.

Words with 坏

show 21 more
destruction / damage / to wreck / to break / to destroy
bad person / villain
bad thing / misdeed / to ruin things
Sentences with 坏
zhè
shì
tiān
jūn
zuò
shì
mǎng
 
 
huài
le
móu

Want to remember 坏 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.

huài

bad / spoiled / broken / to break down / (suffix) to the utmost

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