Mnemonic comic for

Translation

lái = l + ai2: to come / to arrive / to come round / ever since / next

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: a boomerang, because it always comes back (ideally).

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How to pronounce 来

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.

= l initial

L is for Sir Lancelot.

By Matthias • updated 3 months ago
+ ai2 final

In the airplane’s kitchen.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago

来 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
= b + a1
"eight" component in Chinese characters / archaic variant of 八[ba1]
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one of the characters used in kwukyel, an ancient Korean writing system
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wèi = w + ei4
not yet / did not / have not / not / 8th earthly branch: 1-3 p.m., 6th solar month (7th July-6th August), year of the Sheep / ancient Chinese compass point: 210°
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= mi + Ø3
rice / CL:粒[li4] / meter (classifier)
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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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Characters with 来 as component

lài = l + ai4
to glance / to look askance at
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lái = l + ai2
rhenium (chemistry)
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lái = l + ai2
name of a mountain in Sichuan
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Words with 来

show 319 more
lit. storm clouds approach / troubles lie ahead (idiom)
sudden and unexpected disaster (idiom)
Sentences with 来
wáng
huí
lái
le

Want to remember 来 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.

lái

to come / to arrive / to come round / ever since / next

Prompt snippets

The boomerang is a crescent of weathered, honey-colored acacia wood, scarred by countless flights. Its surface is etched with faint, rhythmic tribal patterns.

AI Images