to guess
HSK level
猜 is written with 11 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
猜 (cāi) is a verb meaning 'to guess,' 'to conjecture,' or 'to figure out by supposition.'
It covers guessing an answer, guessing what someone is thinking, and playing guessing games (猜谜语 = guess a riddle; 猜拳 = play the finger-guessing drinking game). It is neutral in register and common in both speech and writing. A subtle difference from English: 猜 usually implies an active attempt to work something out, so 我猜 ('I guess / I reckon') can also soften a statement into a supposition, much like English 'I guess,' but native speakers more often say 我想 or 大概 for casual hedging.
When you land on the right answer, 猜对了 means 'guessed right' and 猜错了 'guessed wrong.' 猜到 with a resultative means to successfully guess something.
你猜我今天遇到了谁？
Nǐ cāi wǒ jīntiān yùdào le shéi?
Guess who I ran into today?
spoken
我猜他大概三十岁。
Wǒ cāi tā dàgài sānshí suì.
I'd guess he's about thirty.
spoken
你猜对了！
Nǐ cāiduì le!
You guessed right!
spoken
这个谜语很难，我猜不出来。
Zhège míyǔ hěn nán, wǒ cāi bu chūlái.
This riddle is hard, I can't figure it out.
spoken
估计 means 'to estimate / reckon,' based on some evidence or reasoning, and is also a hedge ('I reckon'). 猜 implies a freer guess with less information — closer to a pure hunch.
推测 is a more formal, written 'to infer / deduce' from clues. 猜 is the everyday spoken 'guess,' with no requirement of logical grounding.
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