Chinese word

篇

Pronunciation

Pinyinpiān

Meaning

  • measure wordarticle

Example

我读了一篇文章，很有意思。wǒ dú le yì piān wén zhāng hěn yǒu yì si

I read an article, and it was very interesting.

Illustration for 篇 (article)

More examples

我写了两篇作文，老师说写得很好。wǒ xiě le liǎng piān zuò wén lǎo shī shuō xiě de hěn hǎo

I wrote two essays, and the teacher said they were very well written.

Core concept

Written content gathered together and treated as one countable piece.

Common phrases

  • 两篇文章liǎng piān wén zhāng

    two articles

  • 两篇作文liǎng piān zuò wén

    two essays

  • 一篇日记yì piān rì jì

    one diary entry

Similar words

段duàn: Used for counting individual paragraphs or clearly divided parts of writing.
本běn: Used for counting books, magazines, and other bound publications.
条tiáo: Used for counting one item of information, such as a news report or notice.

Definition in Chinese

用来计数一篇一篇成章的书面文字作品，如一篇文章、一篇报道等，也可泛指一篇文章。yòng lái jì shù yì piān yì piān chéng zhāng de shū miàn wén zì zuò pǐn rú yì piān wén zhāng yì piān bào dào děng yě kě fàn zhǐ yì piān wén zhāng

Word origin

篇 (piān, "article") has the bamboo radical 竹 (zhú, "bamboo"), which points to the bamboo slips once used to record writing, and 扁 (biǎn, "flat") mainly indicates its sound.

Usage tips

  • Unlike English, Chinese places 篇 (piān, "article") between a number and the name of a written work when counting it.

Other meanings

  • chapternoun

Word lists with this word