猜

• Pinyin: cāi
• Hanzi breakdown: 猜 = 犭 (dog radical) + 青 (phonetic component)

Meaning

To guess; to speculate; to conjecture.

Used for making guesses about unknown information, playing guessing games, or speculating about someone's intentions. Common in casual conversation and games like 猜谜语 (riddles).

Examples

1. 你猜猜看今天谁会来参加聚会。 Guess who's coming to the party today.
2. 我猜他大概是遇到交通堵塞了才迟到的。 I guess he was probably late because of traffic.
3. 别让我猜了，直接告诉我答案吧。 Don't make me guess — just tell me the answer.

Usage Guide

Context: games, everyday, conversation

Tone: casual

Do Say

• 让我猜一猜。(Let me guess.)
• 你猜怎么着？(Guess what?)

Don't Say

• 在正式场合用'猜'代替'推测'或'估计' (Don't use 猜 in formal contexts — use 推测 or 估计 instead)

Origin & History

Pictophonetic character: 犭 (dog radical) + 青 (phonetic), though the original meaning connection is unclear.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal