拿 ná — to take, to hold, to pick up; to seize, to capture; with, using (as a preposition)
ná (second tone, rising)
to take, to hold, to pick up; to seize, to capture; with, using (as a preposition)
10 strokesRadical 手Frequency #427
Pinyin
- ná (second tone, rising)
to take, to hold, to pick up; to seize, to capture; with, using (as a preposition)
Character breakdown
Ideographic description
⿱合手The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.
- 合meaning partno entry yet合 "to close, to bring together": a lid coming down on a vessel.
- 手meaning partThe hand, written full underneath rather than as 扌.
Mnemonic
Closing 合 over a hand 手: the fingers shutting on something. It is a late character and reads exactly as it looks. Two things to note: 拿 is for things you can pick up — you do not 拿 a person — and it works as a preposition of instrument, 拿筷子吃饭, to eat with chopsticks.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.