Fortunately, you don’t have to rely on brute memorization to expand your vocabulary and meet your learning goals. You can rely on the writing system’s surprisingly intuitive structure, expertly developed learning strategies, and even more creative approaches to associating characters with their corresponding pronunciations and meanings.

In this article, we’ll look at ways to establish a strong foundation and then build from there to help you develop a vocabulary that is both rich and authentic. While a lot of this content is geared towards helping beginners find their way to get over the initial hurdle of adapting to a new writing system, the learning strategies and resources provided below are suitable for learners of all levels, especially those aiming to expand their vocabulary and enhance their ability to memorize Chinese characters effectively.

• Step One: Learn How the Chinese Writing System Works
• Step Two: Build Your Chinese Vocabulary Through Repeated Exposure and Practice
• Step Three: Test Your Knowledge Regularly
• Key Resources for Learning Chinese Characters

Step One: Learn How the Chinese Writing System Works

The first major step to solving these little puzzles is to understand the different components they’re made of and how those components are arranged. This may sound like a major investment of time and energy, but it’s a lot easier than it seems at first glance.

While we already have a quite comprehensive article on the fundamentals of character structure and how to write them, I really want to emphasize the importance of two common components: radicals and phonetic components.

Radicals, also known as 部首(bùshǒu), are the most essential part of understanding the meaning of characters. Take 女(nǚ) for example; by itself, it means “woman” or “female” but can be combined with other pieces to create words like 妈妈(māmā, mother)，姐姐(jiějiě, older sister)，and 妹妹(mèimèi, younger sister). There are 189 radicals in simplified Chinese, but Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is fluency. You can focus on the most common, most fundamental radicals and still see major payoff in your studies.

The next key piece of the puzzle is phonetic components. Going back to the three words we looked at earlier, you’ll notice the pieces added to the radical, 马(mǎ, horse), 且(qiě, even/moreover), and 未(wèi, not), have nothing to do with the meaning, BUT the pronunciation does match closely or exactly. These phonetic components do not add anything to the definition of the character, but rather they provide a clue to indicate how you should say it out loud.

This is just a taste of what the Chinese writing system looks like when you break it down, but can you already see the mystery of these characters starting to dissipate? If you want to keep going more in-depth, you can also check out these two courses that provide an in-depth overview of the writing system to help you find your footing and become more confident both reading and writing Chinese characters.

Once you feel you have a solid foundation, then it’s time to start building.

Step Two: Build Your Chinese Vocabulary Through Repeated Exposure and Practice

This is the stage where you can start to have more independence when it comes to choosing both the content that you want to study and the strategies you want to use. This is the stage in my own learning journey where I felt lost at sea, adrift with no real direction and nobody to help me. And while I can’t tell you exactly what to study and how, I can provide some of my own insights to set you off on the right path.

Let’s first answer the question of WHAT to study. The answer here is going to look very different depending on your learning level. Quite frankly, for beginners, there’s a very straightforward answer: learn the words that are used most often. Chinese character frequency lists will provide you with the characters you hear most often in daily life, or you can always refer to the classic HSK vocabulary lists.

As you become more advanced and feel confident with the words you hear on a daily basis, you may need to look at specializing based on your own interests and learning goals. For example, if you’ve been learning business Chinese for several years and you plan on putting that knowledge to use working with a software company, then naturally it would serve you to learn the specialized terminology of your field. Or if you don’t have any professional aspirations, you can merely focus on areas of interest. If you’re a literature fanatic, then you may even choose to learn some archaic Chinese words to help you understand classical works and poetry. The only limit here is your imagination.

Next comes an even bigger question. Once you have a list of words you want to learn, HOW do you learn them without feeling like your brain is completely overloaded? The first key is based on the Chengyu 锲而不舍(qiè ér bù shě)，persevere, and keep chipping away at it. The second key is to find the learning strategies that work for you.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways to make memorizing Chinese characters easier.

– Strategy 1: Flashcards and Spaced Repetition

We all know them, and we all have a love-hate relationship with them. Flashcards have remained one of the most common strategies for character memorization because they allow you to quickly check whether or not you can remember the meaning of a character. It’s also quite easy to find a spare 10 minutes for flashcards as opposed to sitting down for an intensive study session.

However, just doing flashcards doesn’t always guarantee results. It’s also hard to know how many times you should study a card before moving on, and what happens if you forget a word that you previously studied? This is where the concept of spaced repetition comes in.

Spaced repetition is an evidence-based study technique that is used by linguists, medical professionals, law school students, and more. This system is based around the concept of studying new terms more frequently and familiar terms less frequently. It focuses your attention on the words that are less familiar but still prompts you to return to words that you’ve already study, which strengthens your recall and makes you less likely to forget it.

While spaced repetition systems (SRS) can be difficult to manage with hand-made flashcards, many popular flashcard apps, such as Anki, already have an SRS baked into their code, making this strategy readily accessible to anyone.

– Strategy 2: Visual Cues

Do you consider yourself a visual learner? Then why not take advantage of the fact that many Chinese characters are based on pictograms. Radicals such as 口(kǒu) and 目(mù) pictorially represent the mouth and eyes, so they serve as visual cues to remind you of the meaning of words like 喝(hē, to drink) and 眼睛(yǎnjing, eyes). I’ve always found that making visual associations strengthens my memory more than anything else.

You can choose to draw these connections by yourself during your regular reading and writing practice, or you can do intentional visual association using an established guide, like Chineasy, designed to help visual learners memorize characters more effectively.

– Strategy 3: Storytelling and Mnemonics

Another strategy that is based around making external connections is storytelling. By creating a narrative around a new word, it can help you more effectively remember its meaning and importance in the language. You don’t have to write a novel. Even just writing a few short sentences can help your brain grasp a foreign term more strongly and more quickly.

This strategy is extremely effective for learning Chengyu, four-character idiomatic phrases that are often based on traditional fables. Learning the story behind these complex expressions makes a world of difference, and it’s truly inspiring to be able to learn more about Chinese history and culture while also expanding your practical knowledge of the language.

Mnemonic devices are a slightly more abstract strategy to remember the pronunciation and meaning of characters. These are often personal ideas or opinions that we assign to a specific character because it helps us recall more effectively and faster. Let’s look at one example together. I’ve been trying to learn the word 单独(dāndú, alone, singlehanded), and I have a coworker named Dan who recently quit. So now, when I see this character, I think of the fact that due to Dan, I now need to handle my work alone.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about this strategy because sometimes it can be very difficult to find a way to meaningfully link a character to a phrase in my native language. However, when you do find a solid mnemonic device, it can be extremely effective in helping you recognize the character later on.

– Strategy 4: Learning in Context

Sometimes the most effective way to pick up new terms is through learning on the job, which means learning new characters when you come across them while reading. Many linguists would say that this lines up with the strategy called Comprehensible Input, which is currently one of the most popular methods of learning a new language.

The reason why learning in context is so important is that it exposes you to the characters you will need most often in your day-to-day life, plus it adds additional insights about the word’s usage and cultural implications. Learning characters in isolation can teach you how to recognize and write them, but learning through real-life scenarios will help you turn passive understanding into active usage, which has a much higher impact on your fluency.

This strategy is one of the easiest to implement into your studies because it can be applied to any scenario where you are reading Chinese characters as part of a larger story or conversation, such as texting friends, reading books or manhua, and browsing social media.

When you come across a character that you don’t recognize, it’s important that you take note of its structure and components, plus the pronunciation and meaning. Thankfully, many popular reading apps like MandarinBean, DuChinese allow you to see a word’s pinyin and definition by tapping on it, or you can install a browser extension that will allow you to do the same on any website.

Step Three: Test Your Knowledge Regularly

No matter how you choose to go about memorizing characters, you need to ensure that you’re actually retaining the knowledge over time if you want to get the maximum benefit. There are a few different ways you can go about testing to see if you really remember all those words you studied.

– Test 1: Reading Comprehension

The first test is the easiest because reading only relies on recognizing characters and remembering their meaning. If you’re studying HSK-related vocabulary, then look at reading materials or mock tests that are aimed at your current level (or the one above!) and see if you are able to read through a passage smoothly, or if you feel like you’re hitting speedbumps in every sentence. Perhaps some words come back to you immediately, others you can figure out by looking at them for a minute, and some won’t come back to you at all. If you want to give yourself a grade, you can count how many characters fall into each of those three categories, but I find that you can most often intuitively get a sense of your performance just by going through the passage.

– Test 2: Written Expression

Now comes the real challenge. Can you both think of the character you want to use and then remember how to write it? If you’ve been studying vocabulary around a specific topic, such as how to order food, writing business emails, or describing a movie you saw, you can try to write a short paragraph or dialogue to demonstrate your knowledge. This will not only reinforce your knowledge of characters but also all of the grammar points you have studied. Don’t worry if you can write fewer characters than you can recognize, that’s completely natural and is even true of native speakers.

If you want to try this test but feel like your writing skills aren’t up to par, you can also consider typing your text. Different typing input methods can test your character recognition in different ways, such as inputs based on pronunciation, radicals, or stroke order. It isn’t as rigorous as handwriting everything, but it will still allow you to see if you’re retaining the information that you studied.

Key Resources for Learning Chinese Characters

Having the right tools to support your practice can often make the difference between finding success or falling short. This is a curated collection of apps, books, and courses designed to boost your Chinese vocabulary in ways that are extremely helpful, streamlined, and fun.

DigMandarin’s Chinese Character Courses

These courses are an extremely valuable resource for any student looking to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals of Chinese characters. I found that the instructor broke down complex concepts into digestible pieces, allowing me to learn without feeling overwhelmed. They’re also extremely affordable, and the format allowed me to access the course when it was convenient for me.

Pleco

Pleco is by far the best Chinese dictionary app you will ever use. It offers an extremely comprehensive database of terms and phrases. You can also use any input method you want: Chinese, English, Pinyin, handwriting, or simply taking a picture. Certain add-ons can be purchased to add additional features, such as a flashcard system, but they are very low-cost and are a one-time purchase instead of an ongoing subscription.

Anki

Anki is an extremely well-known SRS (spaced repetition system) app used to create and manage flashcard decks. While its interface is still stuck in the 90s, it can be learned fairly quickly and lends itself to being used creatively. You can create your own flashcards and add supplements like audio and images to improve retention, or you can download existing flashcard decks created by other users. I’m currently using this extensive HSK 3.0 vocabulary deck, which includes writing and stroke order practice.

Chineasy

This series originally hit the scene as a book with an innovative take on learning Chinese characters through drawings, and it now one of the most popular methods for learning characters intuitively. They also now have an app that makes it even more accessible.

Du Chinese

This app was a key piece for me when it came to learning characters in context. The interface is extremely intuitive, and it makes reading practice more engaging by offering a huge variety of content at different HSK levels. The premium subscription is quite expensive, but the free version is still very high quality.

Mandarin Bean

The website offers graded reading material organized by HSK levels, all available for free. Each article features a variety of types, including news, business, stories, fun, and culture, among others. The selection of vocabulary lists tailored to each level is an exceptionally convenient method to learn words that match your proficiency. Engaging and progressively challenging content ensures a stimulating and effective learning experience.

Final Thoughts

Learning a new language can be a daunting task, let alone tackling a new writing system with its own extensive history and specific nuances. However, many have treaded this path before you and are ready to offer their expertise and tips to help you navigate the language with both curiosity and a hunger for learning.

Characters are the most basic foundation of the Chinese language, and learning them, especially how to memorize Chinese characters, is a unique task that challenges your brain to think in new ways. We are all unique individuals, and we learn in different ways. I invite you to try the strategies laid out in this article and see if they spark something new for you. It may just be the thing that ignites your passion.

The post Rise to the Challenge: How to Memorize Chinese Characters Like A Pro appeared first on .

Why Are You Learning Chinese?

Before you decide whether to learn to handwrite characters or not, pause for a moment and ask yourself another question: “Why am I learning Chinese?” Depending on your learning goals, you might choose a different path.

If you study Chinese just to manage as a tourist on a trip to China, then handwriting characters isn’t the most efficient way to spend your time. You can enjoy your trip with basic Chinese and a phone with a translation app.

If you learn Chinese for business reasons, being able to handwrite Chinese characters will impress your business partners, but you might prefer to focus on developing your speaking and listening comprehension skills, instead of spending hours on learning stroke order.

If you are interested in Chinese culture and history and think that learning Chinese might be useful for you in future, then you could still reach a low-intermediate Chinese level and manage by typing characters using pinyin input.

As you can see, you don’t need to learn how to handwrite characters to be able to speak Chinese, understand it, work using it (to a certain extent) and even live in China! But there is always a “but”.

Why Learn To Write Characters By Hand

Before we talk more about the “but”, let’s see why anyone would decide to learn to handwrite Chinese characters? Why spend time and effort on something that you can manage without?

Well, there are a few good reasons to learn handwriting Chinese characters:

• First of all, knowing how to handwrite Chinese characters is just cool. It feels like magic when you write a few strokes on paper, that don’t normally make sense, but they suddenly come together and create a meaning, a word. And amazingly, you can understand it.
• Second, handwriting characters is a form of meditation. Once you learn how to stay focused, you will not only notice that your concentration skills improve, but you will also find yourself feeling calm and relaxed when writing characters. Seriously!
• Third, handwriting characters trains your muscle memory, making characters stay longer in your memory and improving your reading and speaking skills. And here lies aforementioned “but”. You can manage without handwriting characters and learn Chinese to a certain level, but without knowing how to write characters by hand, you are very unlikely to reach level above intermediate.

✓ 快 vs 块, never mess them up again

Many characters look the same and only have a different radical. For example, 快 and 块. They have the exact same pronunciation, kuài, but the meanings have nothing to do with each other. One means “fast”, and another one is “a piece”. You might originally memorise them as separate pictures, but would you still remember them in a month or two, or a year? When you handwrite a character, you learn the parts it consists of, you memorise it by those parts, and so you are more likely to remember the character much later and see the difference between similar characters.

✓ Use dictionaries faster

Another bonus of knowing how to handwrite characters is that you can easily use electronic dictionaries to look up characters you’ve never seen before. Just write it on your phone and a dictionary like pleco will recognize it and give you the meaning.

How to start handwriting characters

So you’ve decided to learn to write characters by hand, what’s next? The most important thing is getting basics right from the very start. Here is a brief guide on how you can do it.

– Understand the structure of a character

A character consists of one or more components, called radicals. Spend some time figuring out how characters are structured because understanding that will help you in future. Simply put, a radical on the left side of a character is (often, but not always) connected to the meaning, whereas, a radical on the right is connected to the pronunciation of the whole character (again, often, but not always).

– Get familiar with strokes

Characters are similar to legos; they can be broken down into pieces. They consist of radicals, while radicals consist of strokes. There are eight traditional fundamental strokes, but only five of them are considered modern modular strokes, called “’札字法” （zházìfǎ).

Take some time and practice writing each of the strokes separately. Keep in mind that it does make a difference if you draw a line top to bottom or bottom to top. I recommend drawing each stroke about 30 times. It might sound strange, but it will help you in future – you’ll see a character, recognize the strokes, and your hand will just write them correctly.

– Learn the radicals

Now that you know how to write strokes, learn the radicals. There are 214 radicals in the original Kangxi radical list, but a few of them are no longer used in simplified Chinese. It is highly recommended to learn them all, but realistically, you should memorize the most common ones and then, once you advance in your studies, learn the others.

– Get the stroke order right

Now that you can deconstruct a character into separate pieces, learn how to write it correctly. The proper stroke order for writing characters has been developed for over thousands of years, and Chinese people are very attentive to it. And to be honest, when you write a character with the correct stroke order, it just flows naturally, as if there is no other right way to write it.

There are some general rules, such as writing from top to bottom and left to right. However, the exact stroke order of each character should be learned and memorized individually, especially when you just start learning handwriting characters. Later, you don’t need to memorize each new character’s stroke order. In most cases, you will already know the order based on previously learned characters. Just remember, it is ok not to be sure about the stroke order, you can always check in a dictionary. 

There is another more detailed article on how to write Chinese characters and get the stroke order correct. It will give you a better overview of character composition and provide some insights on stroke order. You can check it out here:

How to Write Chinese Characters (Quick Start Guide + Free Mini Course)

Tips to practice writing Chinese characters

What’s next? Well, here comes the hard part. There isn’t really a workaround to learn   to handwrite characters without spending time on it. In the very beginning, handwriting characters is exciting. You start something completely new, and it’s exciting. After writing 50 lines of characters, none of which look pretty or similar to ones in the book, you get bored and tired. my advice? Be persistent, and don’t give up. The more you practice, the easier it becomes, and the faster you memorize characters.

– Use worksheets

Find or print out some Chinese writing worksheets. If you are totally new to handwriting characters, I recommend getting worksheets with character stroke order and gridlines. You can even create a worksheet of your own, with characters that you want to practise. There are many websites that have worksheets, archchinese being one of them where you can customize your own practise sheets.

– Deconstructing a character

When feeling bored of writing characters in worksheets, try another exercise. Select a character from your textbook, and don’t check pronunciation or meaning. Try to analyze it. What radicals does the character consist of? Can you guess its meaning? Can you guess its pronunciation? Think of its stroke order. Write it. And finally, look up the character in a dictionary.

The online dictionary MDBG not only provides the meaning of a character but also shows the number of strokes in it, its radical, the radical’s pronunciation and the stroke order. But there are plenty of other dictionaries, choose whichever one suits you best.

– Checking the origins of a character

Another way to learn characters is to look up their origins. Understanding why the character for water looks like this 水 will help you memorize it. Of course, you can’t do it for every single character, but again, in the beginning, it can help you a great deal. And by looking into the etymology of a character, you will better understand Chinese culture. Check out another article here to dive deeper into the etymology of characters.

Handwriting characters is difficult. And if you are like many others, you may want to give up at some point. Because it requires a lot of time, a lot of concentration and a lot of patience. And it’s ok if you quit. But if you choose to continue, remember, it gets easier the more you practise. I remember when I just started handwriting characters, I needed to write a character at least 20-30 times before I could remember both how to read and write it. Later I could memorize a character after writing it 5-7 times. But you need to practise continuously. Now, after years of only typing in Chinese, I find that writing a character 5 times is not enough. Handwriting doesn’t feel natural anymore, and sometimes I struggle to write even simple characters. So don’t repeat my mistakes, be consistent in your practice. 加油！

The post Why You Should Learn to Write Chinese Characters by Hand and How to Start appeared first on .

Chinese Etymology is the study of the origin of Chinese characters. The more knowledge you can apply to a character, such as 泉, the more you understand that character.

The more likely you are to never forget it.

In this article, we’ll break down 水, 泉, 冰, 永 and analyse the etymology of these characters.

You’ll never get them confused again!

Chinese Etymology in Practice

The formation of Chinese characters has been a long process, thousands of years in the making.

Ancient Chinese scripts relied much more heavily on pictographs: visual representations of a word, similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Over time, ancient Chinese scripts were corrupted and simplified into their modern-day equivalents.

By undoing the corruption and simplification of ancient Chinese scripts, you can see that, actually, the modern day version makes perfect sense.

A Chinese character’s origin is often the key to understanding its true meaning.

Ancient men didn’t get water from a tap. They collected it from rivers and streams.

At a glance, 水 has absolutely no relation to the word water.

Whoever invented a character to represent the word ‘water’ had to rely on imagery common at that time.

Depicted on the far left of the image above is the earliest representation of a Chinese character for ‘water’. It’s a pictograph of a river.

The middle line represents the deeper middle section of a river. The edges represent the shallower areas where water rushes over rocks or other obstacles, creating waves and white water.

Over time, these attributes have been simplified. By comparing the origin of this Chinese character to the modern-day version, 水 becomes a very meaningful symbol.

The deep, rushing core of the river and its turbulent outer edges.

Pretty neat.

Etymology of Chinese character 泉

Let’s consider the character 泉 (quán) spring.

There are a few ways to deepen your understanding of this character.

For example, we can break it into its components:

白 (bái) white

水 (shuǐ) water

White water alone gives us a clue to the combined meaning. After all, a spring in nature is a clean, pure (white) source of water.

Let’s dive deeper.

The history of the character 白 also gives us a clue to its meaning.

In the ancient 甲骨文 (jiǎ gǔ wén) oracle bone script, 白 is drawn as 日 (rì) sun with a drop on top.

Despite 3000+ years of meddling, it has pretty much stayed like that.

Some think the ancient Chinese script symbolises the time just before the sun peeps over the horizon when the area of sky above the sun is briefly cast a brilliant white.

It could also represent the bright white light cast at the entrance of a cave.

Either way, it’s clear that the sun here is used to depict white light.

Our brains like patterns. They don’t like randomness. We’re building stories and meaning (understandable patterns) into these characters.

They are no longer squiggles on a page, or even a sequence of strokes. Chinese etymology helps build a stronger story for our mind.

So we now know both components of 泉 (quán) spring. Cool.

How do they work together?

Well actually, they don’t.

I mentioned corruption earlier. This can be seen in the history of the character 泉.

If we look at the oracle bone script here, 泉 is beautifully depicted as a river or stream (notice the same oracle bone character as 水) running out of an opening or cave in the ground.

This makes perfect sense.

A spring begins life as rainwater. Once fallen, it finds its way underground, eventually reemerging from an underground opening.

This opening is often seen from above as cracks between rocks, which water appears to rise up (or spring) from.

So here you can see a cavern-like opening which water flows out from: a spring.

Understanding both the modern components (水 and 白) and their origins gives your brain multiple stories to work with, understand and remember.

It also allows you to undo history and return 泉 to its original picture-like essence.

Using Chinese Etymology to Distinguish Similar Characters

Let’s quickly look at two more characters.

冰 (bīng) ice

This character is composed of two elements.

The 甲骨文 (jiǎ gǔ wén) oracle bone script uses two arrow-like strokes representing cracks formed in ice (think of ice in its natural form in nature).

The addition of a river, or water (水) was later used to indicate the relationship between ice and water.

If we apply this to the modern-day character, 冫is actually cracks within 水 water.

You could read it as ’cracked water’: ice.

永 (yǒng) eternal/perpetual

Here the transformation over time has been a trade-off between how easy the character is to understand and how easy it is to write.

The ancient scripts depict two rivers converging, ultimately joining to become a raging torrent.

Because of the merging of the two rivers, the main river is able to flow out the other side continuously, uninterrupted.

This has connotations of something stretching out into the future and simultaneously connected to the past.

The drop above 水 represents this: one continuous river, flowing eternally.

Seeing the Origin of Chinese Characters In Modern Day Script

水   泉   冰   永

水 is a river with a strong, deep core and turbulent edges.

泉 is pure white water coming from the mouth of an underground cavern.

冰 is the cracks in ice – frozen water.

永 is two rivers converging into one.

Chinese etymology breaks down these ancient script’s modern-day equivalents and turns meaningless strokes into powerful, memorable stories.

Apply this story-making technique to your Chinese studies, and you’ll make each character stick in your mind for much, much longer.

The post Chinese Etymology – Learning the Origins of Chinese Characters Makes Them Impossible to Forget appeared first on .

Related Course: Essential Courses – Pinyin, Characters, Grammar and more

#1 Main Stroke: “一”（横） Horizontal

	Stroke Variations	Names of Strokes	Examples
1		横 （héng） Horizontal	一，二，三，王，工
2		提 （tí） Rising Stroke	习，地，冷，冰，刁

#2 Main Stroke: “丨”（竖） Vertical

	Stroke Variation	Name of Stroke	Examples
1		长竖（cháng shù） Long vertical	书，快，师，十，市
2		短竖 （duǎn shù） Short vertical	刊，修，候，刚，利
3		竖钩 （shù gōu） Vertical hook	小，水，求，寸，找

#3 Main Stroke: “丿”（撇）Left falling

	Stroke Variation	Name of Stroke	Examples
1		撇（piě） Left falling	月，木，大，人，个
2		横撇 （héng piě） Shorter and more horizontal left falling	千，舌，毛，白，禾

#4 Main Stroke: “丶”（点）Dot

	Stroke Variation	Name of Stroke	Examples
1		短点（duǎn diǎn） Short dot	主，广，心，注，文
2		长点（cháng diǎn） Long dot	双，不，贝，头
3		左点 （zuǒ diǎn） Left dot	办，刃，心，必，小
4		平捺 （píng nà） horizontal right falling	之，延，这，走
5		斜捺 （xié nà） slanted right falling	又，义，个，人，大

#5 Main Stroke: “乛”（折）Turning

	Stroke Variation	Name of Stroke	Examples
1		横折（héng zhé） Horizontal turning	口，问
2		横折提（héng zhé tí） Horizontal turning and rising	说，话，讨，论，讲
3		横撇（héng piě） Horizontal and left-falling	又，反
4		横折钩 （héng zhé gōu） Horizontal turning and hook	刀，门，也
5		横钩（héng gōu） Horizontal hook	买，皮，卖
6		横折斜钩 （héng zhé xié gōu） Horizontal and slanted hook	飞，风，凤，凰
7		横折弯钩 （héng zhé wān gōu） Horizontal turning and curved hook	几，九，匹
8		横折弯 （héng zhé wān） Horizontal turning and curved turning	朵，铅
9		横折折 （héng zhé zhé） Horizontal turning and turning	凹
10		横折折撇 （héng zhé zhé piě） Horizontal turning and turning left-falling	廷，建
11		横折折折 （héng zhé zhé zhé）	凸
12		横折撇弯钩 （héng zhé piě wān gōu）	阵，队，除
13		横折折折钩 （héng zhé zhé zhé gōu）	乃，奶
14		竖折 （shù zhé） Vertical turning	山，匹
15		竖弯 （shù wān） Vertical curved turning	四
16		竖提 （shù tí） Vertical and rising	民，切
17		竖折折 （shù zhé zhé） Vertical turning and vertical	鼎
18		竖折折撇 （shù zhé zhé piě） Vertical turning and left-falling	专，传
19		竖弯钩 （shù wān gōu） Vertical curved hook	儿，乱
20		竖折折钩 （shù zhé zhé gōu） Vertical turning and turning hook	与，马
21		撇折 （piě zhé） Left falling and turning	么，公
22		撇点 （piě diǎn） Left-falling and dot	女，巡
23		弯钩 （wān gōu） Curved hook	家，了，子
24		斜钩 （xié gōu） Slanted hook	戈，我，伐

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But don’t be afraid! You can read around 99.48% of modern, everyday Chinese if you know approximately 3,500 characters. Obviously, reading complex writings like science textbooks or literature requires a more in-depth knowledge of Chinese characters, but you can cross that bridge when you get to it!

Where to Start

Comparatively with Chinese, English speakers are afforded a shortcut when it comes to learning new words and phrases with the usage of letters and phonetic rules to guide our pronunciation. For instance, a native speaker being well-versed, perhaps unintentionally, in the art of English pronunciation, can pronounce these following made-up words:

Googlet     Barkjump   Champlotterfloogel

Despite having likely never seen either of these words before, you are still able to at least pronounce them and perhaps intuit something about the meaning based on the word roots. Once armed with our knowledge of letters and their pronunciation rules, we can attack texts with confidence and employ strategies to decipher any fresh words we come across.

Differences Learning Chinese and English Words

Chinese presents a new challenge for us: how do we undo the complicated, centuries-old maze of Chinese characters 汉字 (py Hànzì; literally Han characters) and wade through the seemingly never-ending waves of intricate symbols?

The answer is (brace yourself) that it just takes effort to learn and memorize these characters; there is no way around it. Many scholars have attributed the unapproachability of Chinese to foreign learners directly to these characters. We must remember, however, that complaining that a language is more difficult because it is not like our misses the whole point as to why we choose to learn that new language. Yes, these characters present a significant challenge for students, but putting in the time to learn characters as well as strategies to memorizing them will be nothing but an enormous benefit to your Chinese career! While some folks are content learning only the phonetic system of Chinese that uses Latin characters to guide pronunciation (pinyin), this can only get you so far. Once you leave the safety of your classroom and step foot in Shenzhen or the magnificent school campus of Beida surrounded by student’s posters alight with beautifully scribed Hanzi, pinyin will not be your closest ally.

While it may still seem daunting, there are many strategies to learning characters rapidly and effectively! Many fellow students of subjects other than Chinese have commented that the characters don’t seem to have anything linking them, they are all random, or even that there is nothing one can do except to memorize them character by character grudgingly. But they were wrong! If you are willing to take the time to learn about the Kangxi radical system, you will quickly be able to break down and interpret new characters with a large degree of accuracy! Much in the way you can determine that Barkjump has something to do with a dog barking and something jumping (my own term for when a dog startles me by barking loudly), this same idea can be applied to Chinese characters!

The Plan of Attack

My recommendation to start on your journey of learning the Kangxi radical system and familiarizing yourself with the structure of Chinese characters would be to start with the essential radicals that you will come across. Memorizing these radicals and their meanings will enable you to interpret new characters you come across. Learn them and learn them well! While this may seem like a pointless task, spending the time to learn these radicals will give you a deeper understanding of the Chinese language beyond simple character memorization!

A helpful learning strategy is to learn and group the radicals of characters you already know! For instance, when learning the radical 女，you could group it with the characters 好 and 她. Remember when we said the radicals could help you glean the meaning of the character? In this case, 女 (this radical means “woman”) is in the character她, which means “she.” Here we can see that there is an excellent logic to Chinese Hanzi!

Where Do We Go From Here?

As always in the course of learning a new language, there are constant challenges and brain gaps we must bridge; not only are we learning to speak and read a different way, but also to construct ideas and images differently in our head so that we can approach the language in the way it is meant to be approached. I will never forget a fellow student asking Ms. Lu what the Mandarin translation of “dude” was, the disappointment when he realized there wasn’t one, and his determination and semester-long struggle to find a suitable replacement. In his words, “If I can’t use dude, I don’t really know how I will be able to speak properly.”

The delicate art of Hanzi cannot be learned overnight! There are many resources across the internet with sharp, pertinent insights that can start to guide you on this mission, such as those found at chinesegrammerwiki or various articles at DigMandarin, which offer a far better explanation to the nature of radicals than I could ever hope to achieve. The important thing is to review the list of Kangxi radicals and their respective meanings, and then apply them to characters that you already know!

Learning this particular system takes patience, hard work, and time. The more you cut away at it, the closer to its heart you get! Happy studying!

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Well, you can learn Chinese without learning characters. You can also have basic daily conversation with others, such as simple greetings and direct information exchange, generally that’s it. Plus, you have to learn all that by pure memorization. It’s impossible to go to next level without knowledge of Chinese characters, which is a primary and fundamental tool. You may wonder then, how can we learn these characters in a quick and easy way?

We have introduced many different approaches about Chinese character learning. There are also thousands of articles, books, and video lessons illustrating the basic of characters, such as How to Write Chinese Characters Course. Regardless if you want to learn seriously or to have a basic understanding, you need a perfect beginning to learn the WHAT, WHY and HOW behind the Chinese writing system. It’s necessary to have a comprehensive guide that may show you that writing in Chinese can be quite easy and reasonable. The fundamental strokes and rules can easily show you the logic behind character construction.

The strokes and simple pictogram characters are most frequently mentioned in courses, such as “人” “大” “天” “日” “月” “水” “火”, etc. Very familiar and easy to understand, right? Many people find that courses generally don’t give an in-depth explanation to characters or go beyond teaching basic characters. The problem is trying to figure out what’s next. Besides the strokes and theoretical creation methods, how can we really learn and memorize the other Chinese characters? Only a few simple and easy to memorize characters are covered, how about the rest of the more complicated ones? No one prepares learners to learn and memorize the thousands of other characters.

How It Works

To help the learners who would like to learn more, the Topic-oriented Character learning method comes into play. If you have basic knowledge of characters, you can find that Chinese characters were created in categories. In ancient China, it was a systematic way to create characters. If we could memorize the characters with the same thoughts and logic, not only can we understand the WHY’s behind the culture, but also master all the characters in a more efficient way.

The course consists of 10 main common, daily topics, including: Numbers (数字), People（人）, Position（地点），Nature（自然），Weather（天气），Description with Adjectives（形容词），Location（地点），Body（身体），Furniture & Home appliance（家具&家电）and Food（食物）. Each of the topic contains related and commonly used characters.

Structure

Topic Oriented Key Characters

Under each topic, there are several key characters that are most commonly used. With the key characters, the most frequently used words and sentences are also presented. For individual characters, there is not only a simple translation, but also the origins of the character and the how/why it formed to its current form.

Components to Words

After the first section, there are two or three components derived from the key characters. These extended characters are made by the components. The corresponding words and sentences are also made and presented.

Practice & Review

To help the learners better understand, memorize, and use the characters, a practice & review section follows each lesson. Using content you have learned in previous and current lessons, you can practice creating new sentences and holding conversations. Even though the course is about character learning, the corresponding grammar and uses are provided.

Writing

While learning Chinese characters, writing is necessary and unavoidable. Som may say they just need to read or type, that writing is not that important. As a matter of fact, writing can help you memorize and recognize the characters much easier. We acknowledge the importance of writing, so we decided to include that in our video lessons. The characters are clustered section by section. The instructor will show you the whole writing process by hand, stroke by stroke. With the proper speed, you can easily follow and imitate the writing.

Verdict

Learning to write characters is also a great way to learn Chinese language. From characters to words, from words to topic, and from topics to conversation, it’s all connected. If you understand the logic behind Chinese characters, the following process could not be easier. This topic-oriented Chinese character method provides you the route to learning.

This course contains about 240 Chinese characters and corresponding words, which ranges from HSK level 1 to level 3. It’s an ideal course for beginner to intermediate level learners.

Just learning by watching is not enough for sure. As a writing character course, there are also downloadable, stroke by stroke, writing sheets of each topic. All the key and extended characters are listed there for the learners to write and review. In addition, there is also a test in each lesson which helps the learners check if they have mastered and memorized the characters properly. As a character learning course, it fills the gap between beginner to intermediate level, especially after the fundamental stage, with quite a systematic and logic thought. Learners can easily access the course and begin their journey to Chinese character mastery.

The post Topic-Oriented Method: The Most Efficient Way to Learn Hundreds of Chinese Characters appeared first on .

Definitely not! We Chinese use the same keyboards as other countries do. But how can we type out so many characters with just the regular 26 letters? That`s what I`d like to share with you how to type in Chinese.

Methods of Typing Chinese Characters

1. Pinyin Input Method

As you can see from the following image, Chinese characters are constructed by various strokes, which are relatively independent from the phonetic system. It`s not possible to list all the characters in the keyboard since there are about 80,000 characters in total. Each character has its own pronunciation, though many of them share the same phonetic syllables, which is known as pinyin. Thus, we can get a list of the characters through typing the phonetic syllables. (You can check more information about Chinese characters here.)

The phonetic syllables are constructed in three parts, which are the initial, the final, and the tone. The initial and final are constructed with the 26 English alphabet letters, the same as the ones on your keyboard. You may wonder, then, how about the tones? Well, tones are always the hard part of Chinese pronunciation for many foreigners. Fortunately, it`s not necessary to type out each tone. All you need to type are the letters. This typing method also makes many Chinese learners feel comfortable since they don`t need to memorize the exact tone of each character. When you input the letters of the initial and final, all the corresponding characters with 5 different tones will be shown. You just need to choose the one you want and ignore the others you don’t need. (You can check more information about Chinese pronunciation here.)

2. The Five-stroke Input Method（五笔输入法）

Chinese characters have many small components, and you just need to put the small components together and give them order. Each of the components are made of smaller strokes.The modern modular strokes are “扎”字法 which are regulated as the 5 one’s, “一”（横）、“丨”（竖）、 “丿”（撇）、“丶”（点）and“乛” （折）.It`s also the foundation for Chinese people to learn writing characters.

五笔输入法（The five-stroke input）was very popular for a period of time, since this method is based on the stroke construction of each characters. As you can see from the following image, each letter of your keyboard represents several Chinese strokes. What you need to do is separate the character into different stroke components, find the corresponding alphabet letter representing the stroke, and then you can form the character you want.

The advantage of this method is that even if you don`t know the pronunciation of this character, you can easily type it out. With the Pinyin input method, it`s hard to type if you don`t know or are not sure about the pronunciation. This five-stroke input method has a lower error rate.

However, more and more Chinese people are taught to learn the pronunciation and characters from Pinyin in primary schools. Thus, many people feel more familiar with Pinyin. So less and less people choose to use the five-stroke input. Moreover, it`s really not easy to memorize so many small components.

3. The Handwriting Input Method（手写输入法）

This is the easiest method to understand. Unlike the Pinyin Input Method, you don`t need to know the exact pronunciation of each character; you can input by hand. You also don`t need to memorize the strokes on your keyboard, as with the Five-stroke Input Method. You can get the characters by writing on the screen.

The drawbacks of this method are you have to use the touch screen (which may not be easy), or you may find it hard to write characters. And if you can`t write with your hand in a nice and proper way, the input software may not recognize what you wrote.

Tool Recommendation

These three input methods above are very popular. You can easily acquire the input methodtool of your choice on your smartphone or computer. Below is a  list of some commonly used tools

Pinyin input method applications:

• 谷歌拼音（Google）
• QQ拼音
• SOGOU 拼音

Five-stroke input method applications:

• SOGOU五笔
• QQ五笔
• 百度五笔（BAIDU）

Notes

Even if you are content typing with the pinyin input method, don`t forget to practice your tones while speaking. People cannot distinguish the words without tones when talking with each other.

If you have mastered typing Chinese characters with pinyin, sometimes handwriting seems unnecessary. However, writing can help Chinese learners remember the characters more accurately and systematically. With actual writing, your muscle memory will help you remember and master these characters because by doing so, they are easier to remember.  Besides, writing with your hand is also a part of understanding Chinese culture.  Thus, I highly recommend you continue to practice handwriting.

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By the origins of concepts and the logic of its thinking, we mean that many concepts in the Chinese language originated from different sources other than English. Let’s look at some interesting examples:

The concept of light and heavy, 輕(Qīng) and 重(zhòng) originated from chariots of ancient times. Both characters have a 車(chē) in them. The character 輕(Qīng) is composed of a chariot and a stream. The character 重(zhòng) is formed by adding one more wheel on each side of a 車(chē)。It is not the sound 【qīng】and 【zhòng】 that carry the concept of light and heavy, but the shape of the characters.

The same logic applies to 领袖(lǐngxiù), which means “leader.” 领(lǐng) is the collar of a jacket; 袖(xiù) are its sleeves. As the collar and sleeves are the most important part of a jacket, they are used to refer to the leader of a group of people.

The collar is also the part which you grab to lift a jacket. From there comes the meaning of leading. From the concept of leading, the meaning of 领(lǐng) was extended to “captain,” such as in 领队(lǐngduì)；”to understand” such as in 领会(lǐnghuì)；”to accept” such as in 认领(rènlǐng). All these meanings are logically interlinked in Chinese, but it appears like nonsense to foreign students, who would surely ask, “Is there any relationship between a collar of a jacket and the captain of my football team?”

The logic underlining the Chinese language is not always the same as with English. For example, the concepts of “fast” and “slow” are written as 快慢 (kuàimàn), where both characters carry the part of 忄,which is a variation of 心, “mind.” In Chinese logic, fast or slow is only a mental phenomenon. It is all about the feeling of the speakers.

The above examples demonstrate that Chinese characters are not only symbols to record the meaning and sounds of spoken Chinese, they also reveal the concept and logic of Chinese thinking. They are indispensable to the understanding of the Chinese language, whether oral or written.

Alphabetical languages depend heavily on grammar rules such as tenses, gender variations, and where related words must change their form and pronunciation to make sense. But the rich characters of the Chinese language made it possible to get rid of the restrainment of grammar rules. Basically, there are no grammar rules in ancient Chinese. The concept of Chinese grammar is an imported term to facilitate analyzing Chinese sentences in the modern era. There was no grammar book written in the history of China before the May 4^th Movement, which took place in 1919.

The benefit of having no grammar rules is the flexibility, efficiency and speed of both oral and written expressions in the Chinese language. Particularly in speaking numbers.

Another benefit that Chinese characters brought to the language is that they allowed for the separation of oral and written language. This unique feature permitted the Chinese culture to survive thousands of years consistently, and permitted the existence of numerous dialects in different places. In some parts of China, even nearby villages have their proper dialects. Dialects did not ruin the integrity of the language: They all speak Chinese.

Given all of the above arguments, it is clear that the characters are the real foundation of the sophistication of the Chinese language. To learn the characters should be the first step to learning the language. Though they are difficult to handle, once the learners break this barrier, the rest of the journey toward proficiency will be so much easier.

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Q1: “Jing, do I really need to learn how to write in Chinese?”

Because of technology, nowadays more and more people tend to just learn Pinyin and then type Chinese characters instead of writing them down. It indeed seems more convenient and easier. However, for a Chinese learner, writing can help you remember the characters more accurately and systematically. If you just type on a computer of a cellphone, you might go through a period when you will suddenly stop using Chinese, then it becomes so easy to forget the words because many characters are just too similar. With actual writing, your muscle memory will help you remember and master these characters much longer because they become a part of your brain. Besides, writing is also a part of understanding Chinese culture. So, my answer is YES, I recommend that you learn how to write in Chinese.

Q2: “Do you have any suggestions on how to write Chinese characters?”

Answering this question is not that simple, so I`ll use the rest of this article to give my best thoughts about this.

1. A basic introduction of Chinese characters

Chinese characters are relatively independent from the phonetic system. There are about 80,000 characters in total and about 6,500 which are used daily. Each character has its own pronunciation, though many of them share the same pinyin syllables. The large number may make many beginners feel scared and overwhelmed. Actually, after knowing the principle of making characters and the rules behind it, mastering the writing of characters should be quite easy. It`s like a “one formula fits all” method.

Traditional or Simplified characters?

We all know that there are two versions of Chinese characters in us nowadays: traditional Chinese characters （繁体字）and simplified Chinese characters （简体字）. The traditional version is mainly used in Hongkong, Taiwan, Singapore, and a several other places. The simplified version is mainly used in mainland China. No matter which version you choose to learn, the rules of writing are the same. So, in learning how to write, the version you wish to learn doesn’t really matter.

2. Character formation

Obviously, such a large number of characters cannot be made randomly. Following certain rules, these characters which have grown over  thousands of years are still very dynamic.

The formation of characters seems just like a “LEGO” game! There are many small components, and you just need to put the small components together and give them order. Each of the components are made of smaller strokes.

Strokes

The strokes of Chinese characters refer to one uninterrupted dot or line, such as  “一”（横）、“丨”（竖）、 “丿”（撇）、“丶”（点）、“乛”（折）, etc. A stroke is the smallest component of a character. There are 8 traditional fundamental strokes, which are  “丶”（点）、“一”（横）、“丨”（竖）、 “丿”（撇）、 “乀” （捺）、 “㇀”（提）、 “乛” （折） and “亅” （钩）.It`s also called “’永’字八法” （yǒngzìbāfǎ）. The character “永” basically represents the common stroke types of the Chinese character system.

The modern modular strokes are regulated as the 5 one’s, “一”（横）、“丨”（竖）、 “丿”（撇）、“丶”（点）and“乛” （折）, and they are called “’札’字法” （zházìfǎ）. It`s a simpler version of “’永’字八法”.

• Full Chinese Character Strokes List

Radicals

Radicals in Chinese characters are called 部首[bùshǒu]. They are used to classify the character patterns which are commonly used in Chinese dictionaries. There are mainly two types of radicals depending on their different functions and properties. One is based on the principles of the six categories of Chinese characters (which we will illustrate more in the content that follows), and the other is based on the shapes of the structures.

Once you understand the relations among strokes, radicals, and characters, writing characters becomes a piece of cake. Moreover, you can not only imitate drawing the shapes, but also understand the underlying rules and reasons behind the characters. Of course, practicing with understanding would be a much better way than mechanical imitation.

Let`s take “女” as an example. “女” is not only a independent character which means female, but it is also a radical which can be combined with other Chinese components and indicates some certain meanings. As the following picture shows, “妈”“姐”“妹” are all females, thus they share the same radical while the right sides are diversified because of the phonetics.

• Most Common Chinese Characters List by Radical

The categories of Chinese characters

There are six main categories of Chinese characters: Pictographs （象形字）, Pictophonetic characters （形声字）, Simple ideograms（指示字）, Compound ideographs （会意字）, Phonetic loan characters （假借字）, and Derivative cognates （转注字）.  Here, I will introduce the four commonly used categories:

1). Pictographs （象形字）

These are stylised drawings of the objects they represent. Many Chinese learners feel that they are “drawing” Chinese characters, and in this case, they are! Most of the single characters and radicals are from this category.

2) Pictophonetic characters （形声字）

They are also called radical-phonetic characters. Over 70% of Chinese characters were created by this method. There are mainly two components: the phonetic component and the semantic component. The “女” radical we mentioned before is a typical example of this category.

e.g.

女 à the meaning part (also the radical), “female”

“妈”“姐”“妹” à“马” “且” “未” indicate the phonetic part.

3) Simple ideograms（指示字）

These express an abstract idea through an iconic form. For example, the numbers in Chinese, “一” “二” “三”, are represented by the appropriate number of strokes which means “one” “two” “three”.

4) Compound ideographs （会意字）

These are the combination of two or more pictographic characters to suggest the meaning of the character to be represented.

e.g.

木（mù） à  wood

林（lín）  à  woods  (two 木)

森（sēn） à  forest  (three 木)

3. The Basic Writing Order

Stroke order really matters if you want to learn writing characters. Using the wrong stroke order or direction would cause the ink to fall differently on the page. The Chinese stroke order system was designed to produce the most aesthetical, symmetrical, and balanced characters on a piece of paper. Furthermore, it was also designed to be efficient – creating the most strokes with the least amount of hand movement across the page. Here, I`ll quote the rules that Sara once wrote in the article Why Chinese Stroke Order is Important and How to Master it at DigMandarin to show you the proper stroke orders.

Here are some tips on mastering stroke order.

1). 从上到下Top to bottom

When a Chinese character is “stacked” vertically, like the character 立 (lì) which means to stand, the rule is to write from top to bottom.

2). 从左到右Left to right

When a Chinese character has a radical, the character is written left to right. The same rule applies to characters that are stacked horizontally.

3). 先中间后两边Symmetry counts

When you are writing a character that is centered and more or less symmetrical (but not stacked from top to bottom) the general rule is to write the center stroke first.

4). 先横后竖Horizontal first, vertical second

Horizontal strokes are always written before vertical strokes.  Here is how to write the character “十(shí)” or “ten.”

5). Enclosures before content

You want to create the frame of the character before you fill it in. Check out how to write the character 日(rì) or “sun.”

6). Close frames last

Make a frame then fill in some of the components inside. After you write the middle strokes, close the frame, such as in the character “回(huí)” or “to return.”

7). Character spanning strokes are last

For strokes that cut across many other strokes, they are often written last. For example, the character 半 (bàn), which means “half.” The vertical line is written last.

There are always small exceptions to the rule, and Chinese stroke order can vary slightly from region to region. However, these variations are very miniscule; so by following these general tips, you’ll have an astute grasp on Chinese character`s writing order.

From strokes to characters, this is the way Chinese characters are formed. And it should also be the way you learn to write them. Writing is not the final goal, but understanding and using them correctly. Following the order of the writing will help you remember the characters better.

Related Course: Essential Courses – Pinyin, Characters, Grammar and more

So, I hope you like this guide to learning how to write Chinese characters! get your pen and let`s start writing!

The post How to Write Chinese Characters (Quick Start Guide) appeared first on .

Imagine having a specific character in mind, but depending on its pronunciation, its intended meaning can vary significantly. For example, the character 好, you can say it using the third tone (hǎo), or the fourth tone (hào), and both have different meanings. That’s the beauty and complexity of Mandarin. It’s a language where proper listening and pronunciation hold immense importance, as they can alter the intended meaning and usage of a character.

In this article, we will explore ten Chinese characters that exemplify the phenomenon of polyphones. We will shed light on their varying pronunciations and subsequent shifts in meaning and usage. By practicing your pronunciation of these characters, you’ll not only deepen your understanding of Mandarin but also impress others with your ability to employ them appropriately in different situations and contexts.

1. 好
2. 折
3. 空
4. 着
5. 看
6. 和
7. 行
8. 把
9. 会
10. 乐

#1: 好

When beginners learn Chinese, they often come across the character 好. It’s commonly pronounced as “hǎo” and typically means “good” or “easy,” as seen in examples like 很好 (hěn hǎo, very good) or 好人 (hǎo rén, a good person).

However, in certain words and phrases, it takes on the fourth tone as “hào,” transforming into a verb meaning “to like,” as seen in 爱好 (àihào, hobby) or 好奇 (hàoqí, curious).

hǎo

(Nǐ de xiǎngfǎ hěn hǎo, dànshì bù hǎo shíxiàn.)
你的想法很好，但是不好实现。
Your idea is very good, but not easy to achieve.

hào

(Wǒ hěn hàoqí, tā wèishénme yǒu nàme duō àihào.)
我很好奇，她为什么有那么多爱好。
I`m curious why she has so many hobbies.

#2 折

During the sale season at the mall, this character appears prominently. It is most commonly pronounced with the third tone, “zhé,” and it means “discount,” as in 打折 (dǎzhé, have a discount). As a verb, it translates to “break,” as in 折断 (zhéduàn, break off).

However, in a few words and expressions, it takes on the first tone as “zhē” and functions as a verb meaning “roll over,” as in 折腾 (zhēteng, toss about).

There’s also a third pronunciation, “shé,” which indicates “losing money in business.”

zhé

(Rú lìjí fùkuǎn kě dǎ jiǔ zhé.）
如立即付款可打九折。
A 10% rebate for immediate payment.

zhē

(Shuì yī huìr , bié zhēteng  le.)
睡一会儿, 别折腾了。
Sleep for a while. Don’t toss and turn restlessly.

shé

(Tā jīnnián shé le hěn duō qián.)
他今年折了很多钱。
He lost a lot of money in his business this year.

#3 空

This character has two pronunciations. The first one is “kōng.” When used as an adjective, it signifies “empty” or “hollow,” as in 空房间 (kōng fángjiān, empty room). As a noun, it represents “air” or “sky,” as in 晴空 (qíngkōng, bright sky). As an adverb, it means “in vain.”

The second pronunciation is “kòng.” As a verb, it means “to leave empty or blank.” When used as an adjective, it describes something as “unoccupied,” such as 空座位 (kòng zuòwei, unoccupied seat). As a noun, it refers to “free time,” as in 没空 (méikòng, not available).

kōng

(Zhúzi hěn qīng ， yīnwei tā zhōngjiān shì kōng de.)
竹子很轻， 因为它中间是空的。
Bamboo is light because it is hollow.

kòng

(Měi duàn kāi tóu yào kòng liǎng gé.)
每段开头要空两格。
Leave two blank spaces at the beginning of each paragraph.

#4 着

This character sees frequent use with four different pronunciations.

The first one is “zháo,” which conveys the meaning of “burn,” as in 着火 (zháohuǒ, be on fire). It can also mean “fall asleep,” as in 睡着 (shuìzháo).

The second pronunciation is “zhe,” indicating that an action or state is ongoing, as in 看着 (kànzhe, is/was looking).

The third way to pronounce it is “zhuó,” which means “wear,” as in 着红色衣服 (zhuó hóngsè yīfu, be dressed in red clothes).

The fourth pronunciation, “zhāo,” is commonly used as a noun meaning “move,” as in 走错一着 (zǒucuòyīzhāo, make a false move).

zháo

(Lúhuǒ zháo de hěn wàng.）
炉火着得很旺。
The stove is burning briskly..

zhe

(ā tí zhe xiāngzi zǒu le jìnqù.)
他提着箱子走了进去。
He went in carrying his suitcase.

zhuó

(Tā shēn zhuó  yì tiáo piàoliàng de qúnzi.)
她身着一条漂亮的裙子。
She is wearing a beautiful dress.

zhāo

(Shū tā yì zhāo.)
输他一着。
Lose a move to him.

#5 看

This verb holds significance for every Chinese student. It is primarily pronounced with the fourth tone, “kàn,” conveying the meaning of “look” or “read,” as in 看电视 (kàndiànshí, watch TV) or 看书 (kànshū, read a book).

However, in a few specific words and expressions, it takes on the first tone, “kān,” and signifies “look after,” as in 看孩子 (kānháizi, look after children).

Kàn

(Wǒ míngtiān qù kàn tā. )
我明天去看他。
I’ll go and see him tomorrow.

kān

(Kān zhù tā , bié ràng tā pǎo le.）
看住他， 别让他跑了!
Keep an eye on him. Don’t let him run away.

#6 和

This is also one of the characters that learners come across early on in their Chinese language journey. It is commonly pronounced with the second tone, “hé,” meaning “and,” as in 我和你 (wǒ hé nǐ, you and me).

However, in certain words and expressions, it takes on the fourth tone, “hè,” functioning as a verb meaning “to join in,” as in 和唱 (hè chàng, join in the singing).

Another pronunciation is “huò,” signifying “mix” or “blend,” as in 和水 (huòshuǐ, mix water with something).

hé

(Yì zhāng zhuōzi hé sì bǎ yǐzi .）
一张桌子和四把椅子。
A table and four chairs .

huò

(Dòushā lǐ huò diǎnr táng.)
豆沙里和点儿糖.
Mix a little sugar into the bean paste

hè

(Tā hè zhe chàng.)
他和着唱。
He is joining the singing.

#7 行

Similar to the character 好, this character can also be used to say “OK.” In most words and expressions, it is pronounced as “xíng.” As a verb, it means “to go,” such as 步行 (bùxíng, go on foot). As an adjective, it means “capable.” And as a noun, it means “behavior,” as in 言行 (yánxíng, words and deeds).

The second pronunciation is “háng,” which signifies “trade and business” when used as a noun, like 各行各业 (gèhánggèyè, all trades and professions). As a measure word, it represents “a row of,” as in 一行树 (yīhángshū, a row of trees).

xíng

(Tā yóuyù le hěn jiǔ ，ránhòu shuō “xíng”.)
她犹豫了很久，然后说“行”。
She hesitated a long time and then said ‘ok’.

háng

(Gàn yīháng ài yīháng. )
干一行爱一行。
Love whatever job one takes up.

#8 把

This character can be pronounced two ways.

The first pronunciation is “bǎ.” As a noun, it means “handle,” such as 把手 (bǎshou, handle). As a measure word, it means “a handful,” as in 一把米 (yībǎmǐ, a handful of rice). As a verb, it means “to hold,” like 把住栏杆 (bǎzhù lángān, hold on to a railing).

The second pronunciation is “bà.” It means “stem,” as in 梨把 (líbà, stem of a pear).

bǎ

(Bǎ mén guān shàng .)
把门关上。
Close the door.

bà

(Tā shǒu lǐ yǒu yīxiē huābà.)
他手里有一些花把。
There are some flower stems in his hand.

#9 会

Most of the time, this character is pronounced as “huì.” As an auxiliary word, it signifies “going to” or “will.” As a verb, it means “to meet” or “to see,” for example 相会 (xiānghuì, meet). As a noun, it refers to a meeting, like 开会 (kāihuì, have a meeting).

In a few words and expressions, it is pronounced as “kuài.” It denotes “computing” or “calculating,” such as 会计 (kuàijì, accountant).

huì

(Jiàoshī hé jiāzhǎng zài xīngqī liù xiàwǔ jùhuì.)
教师和家长在星期六下午聚会。
The teachers and parents got together on Saturday afternoon.

kuài

(Kuàijì gānggāng líkāi.)
会计刚刚离开。
The accountant just left.

#10 乐

This character has two pronunciations.

The first one is “lè.” When used as an adjective, it means “joyful,” like in 快乐 (kuàilè, happy). As a verb, it signifies “enough,” as in 乐此不疲 (lècǐbùpí, enjoy doing something and never get tired of it). As a noun, it denotes “pleasure,” as in 享乐 (xiǎnglè, enjoy life). As an adverb, it means “gladly,” as in 乐于 (lèyú, be happy to).

The second pronunciation is “yuè,” which is a noun meaning “music,” as in 奏乐 (zòuyuè, play music).

lè

(Nǐ lè shénme ya?)
你乐什么呀？
What are you laughing at?

yuè

(Yáogǔn yuè yǐjīng jìnrù le yí gè tíngzhì qī.)
摇滚乐已经进入了一个停滞期。
Rock’n’roll had entered a period of stasis.

Closing Thoughts

The complex concept of Mandarin polyphones is adds layers of depth and intrigue to the language. The ability to harness the nuances of pronunciation and understand the contextual variations of these characters is a skill that sets proficient Mandarin speakers apart.

By immersing yourself in the study of polyphones, you not only enhance your communication abilities but also gain a deeper appreciation for the rich cultural heritage embedded within the Chinese language. Whether it’s mastering the different pronunciations of 好, deciphering the various meanings of 折, or navigating the multifaceted nature of characters like 空, 看, 和, 行, 把, 会, and 乐, your journey through Mandarin will be a rewarding one.

We hope that your exploration of Mandarin polyphones will lead you to new horizons of language proficiency and cultural appreciation.

Take up the challenge of exploring polyphones and learn more with 多音字: 50 Commonly Used Chinese Polyphonic Characters (Ebook).

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