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鞋
xié
shoe
我买了一双新鞋。
I bought a pair of new shoes.
formal
A covering for the foot, typically made of leather or fabric, with a sole and often a heel, worn to protect the foot or as a fashion item.
这双鞋很舒服。
These shoes are very comfortable.
她穿了一双红色的鞋子。
She wore a pair of red shoes.
Commonly used in daily conversation. The plural form '鞋子' (xiézi) is often used in general contexts, while '鞋' (xié) is more concise.
Pro Tip
Measure Word for Shoes
Use '双' (shuāng) when counting pairs of shoes, e.g., '一双鞋' (yī shuāng xié, one pair of shoes). For individual shoes, use '只' (zhī), e.g., '一只鞋' (yī zhī xié, one shoe).
Gold Rule
Distinguish '鞋' and '鞋子'
'鞋' is the concise form, while '鞋子' is the full form. Both are correct, but '鞋' is more commonly used in spoken Chinese.
Word Origin
The character 鞋 is composed of the phonetic component '圭' (guī) and the semantic component '革' (gé, meaning leather). Historically, shoes were made from leather, hence the connection.
Usage Notes
In Chinese, '鞋' is often used in compound words (e.g., 皮鞋, 运动鞋) to specify the type of shoe. The word '双' (shuāng) is commonly used as a measure word for shoes.
Word Breakdown
革
leather
semantic圭
phonetic component
phonetic汉英词典