# Pronunciation: 剥



## yuechu

Hello/大家好，

I have a question about the character 剥 (to peel). The dictionary gives the pronunciations bo1 and bao1. In most situations, are both pronunciations correct? (is one simply a variant pronunciation of the other?)

For example, if I were to say:

I first peel the potato then cut it into pieces/thin slices. (土豆丝）
我先*剥*土豆，然后切(into pieces).

, is it better to say "bo1" or "bao1"?


Thanks/谢谢！


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## xiaolijie

Normally it should be /bao1/, which is usually a verb (as in your example). "Bo1" tends to be the pronunciation in compounds or phrases.


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## yuechu

Thanks for your reply, xiaolijie!


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## sesame_fr

But we don't say 剥土豆 very often，I think we say 削土豆,because we need the knife.


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## xiaolijie

> I think we say 削土豆


And before baosheng asks whether 削 should be read as "xue1" or "xiao1" , it is "xiao1". "Xue1" is for compounds and phrases.


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## yuechu

sesame_fr said:


> But we don't say 剥土豆 very often，I think we say 削土豆,because we need the knife.



Oh, I see. So 削(xiao1)土豆=peeling with a knife, 剥(bao1)=peeling off something (without a knife).

Thank you both for your help!


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## viajero_canjeado

I don't know about in the mainland, but in Taiwan 剝 is pronounced bo1, as in 剝皮。 I've never heard bao1pi2 for this before, and would have thought the person meant 包皮 if I did.


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## xiaolijie

Generalisations are meant to help with leaning and not meant to be 100% the case. Therefore, yes, I can imagine there are more than one pronunciation for 剝皮.


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## 490371703

just say bo anyway. you will not be blamed unless in a chinese class and just happen to learn that..


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## yuechu

大家好！
Do the pronunciation of 剥 and 削 also change depending on the region? (for example, 南北方？）, or perhaps the formality of the context?
Thanks!


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## SimonTsai

viajero_canjeado said:


> I don't know about in the mainland, but in Taiwan 剝 is pronounced bo1, as in 剝皮. I've never heard bao1pi2 for this before, and would have thought the person meant 包皮 if I did.


As a Taiwanese native, I would say yes, you are right.


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## yuechu

Thanks for the confirmation, SimonTsai!


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## dylanlau

in most cases, you can pronounce "bo1". then people can understand well


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