How to Write 价 (jià) — Meaning “price / value”

Imagine a person (亻) standing next a price tag with a line dividing the old and new price (介 looks like a partition). The person is checking the price, so you remember 价 means price. Think of a person saying ‘Price check!’ as they point to the divider.

The left radical 亻should be narrow and sit high, with the vertical stroke starting from the first dot and going down. On the right, 介 has three strokes: a downward stroke on top, then two small strokes below that cross in the middle — be careful not to make the top stroke too long. The overall character is balanced with the left side slightly taller than the right.

价 (jià) means price or value, while 什 (shén) means ‘ten’ or is used in ‘什么’ (what), and 仁 (rén) means benevolence or kindness. Visually, 价 has 介 on the right, 什 has 十 (ten), and 仁 has 二 (two). In usage, 价 appears in shopping contexts like 价格 (price), while 仁 is used in moral terms like 仁爱 (benevolent love).

价 is very common in daily life when talking about money, especially in shops or markets, such as 价格 (price) on a tag or 减价 (sale). It also appears in abstract senses like 评价 (evaluation) which means giving a value judgment on something. Culturally, Chinese shoppers often ask ‘这个多少钱？’ (how much is this?) using 钱 (money), but 价 appears on signs like ‘特价’ (special price).

Common words containing 价 include: 价格 (jià gé) — price; 评价 (píng jià) — To evaluate / Evaluation / Appraise; 减价 (jiǎn jià) — to reduce the price; sale.