material; data; the makings
HSK level
材料 is written with 17 strokes (材: 7, 料: 10). The animation replays automatically.
材料 (cáiliào) is a noun meaning 'material' in several senses: physical raw materials (building materials, ingredients), documents or data gathered for a purpose (application materials, reference materials), and figuratively 'the makings of' a certain kind of person.
It combines 材 ('timber / material / talent') and 料 ('material / to expect'). It is neutral in register and very common in construction, cooking, office, and academic contexts. Two differences from English: 材料 covers both concrete stuff (wood, metal, fabric) and abstract 'materials' like paperwork or research sources, where English often needs different words (materials, documents, data); and idiomatically 他是当老师的材料 means 'he's got what it takes to be a teacher,' treating a person as raw 'material' for a role — a usage English handles with 'the makings of.'
Character by character
Memory hook: 材 (timber) + 料 (stuff) — the raw stuff you build or work with.
做这道菜需要哪些材料？
Zuò zhè dào cài xūyào nǎxiē cáiliào?
What ingredients do you need to make this dish?
spoken
请把申请材料交给办公室。
Qǐng bǎ shēnqǐng cáiliào jiāo gěi bàngōngshì.
Please submit the application materials to the office.
written
这种材料很结实。
Zhè zhǒng cáiliào hěn jiēshi.
This kind of material is very sturdy.
neutral
他真是当老师的材料。
Tā zhēnshì dāng lǎoshī de cáiliào.
He really has what it takes to be a teacher.
spoken
原料 specifically means 'raw material' used in manufacturing or cooking, before processing. 材料 is broader — it also covers finished materials, documents, and data, not only unprocessed inputs.
资料 means data, information, or reference sources (files, records). Use 资料 for informational material; 材料 for physical stuff or, in bureaucratic contexts, submitted paperwork.
资料 is information/data. 材料 leans physical (substances) or bureaucratic (submitted documents). Research references are 资料; bricks and steel are 材料。
There is no standard word 才料; the correct character is 材 (with the wood radical). Watch the radical when writing 材料。
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