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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/zh-kuai-yuan

A vendor says something costs 'shí kuài'. What does kuài (块) mean here?

Yuan, the everyday spoken word for China's money unit.

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  1. Fast
  2. Yuan, a unit of money ✔
  3. Ten cents

Why: Price tags say yuán (元), but people usually say kuài (块). Shí kuài means 10 yuan. Máo is one tenth of a yuan.

Huh, didn't know that: A different kuài (快), written with another character, means fast.

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The price was ten kuài. That sounded fast to me, because kuài also means fast!
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References

Answer: Yuan, a unit of money. Price tags say yuán (元), but people usually say kuài (块). Shí kuài means 10 yuan. Máo is one tenth of a yuan.

  1. MIT OpenCourseWare, Learning Chinese, Unit 3 ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-21g-003-learning-chinese-a-foundation-course-in-mandarin-spring-2011/7413ef603a88dea457928c1f6f8230bc_MITRES_21G_003S11_unit03.pdf
    money, qián, is counted with kuài ‘yuan; dollar’.
    Checked 2026-10-12.
  2. MIT OpenCourseWare, Learning Chinese, Unit 3 ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-21g-003-learning-chinese-a-foundation-course-in-mandarin-spring-2011/7413ef603a88dea457928c1f6f8230bc_MITRES_21G_003S11_unit03.pdf
    Kuài and máo are the normal spoken forms.
    Checked 2026-10-12.

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