The character 说 — “speak”: how to write it and what it means
speak, say
The Chinese character 说 is read shuō and means “speak, say”. Below: the stroke order step by step, what the character is made of and the words it appears in.
Stroke order: how to write 说
说 has 9 strokes. At each step the new stroke is highlighted — write them in the same order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical, a frame before what is inside it, and the bottom stroke of the frame last.
To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for 说, with strokes to trace and empty squares.
What 说 is made of
On the left, 讠 “speech”.
The parts of a character hint at its meaning or its reading — more in the article “Chinese character radicals”.
Words with 说
- 说话talkHSK 1
- 听说I heard that…; they sayHSK 3
- 说法version, wordingHSK 4
- 说明explain; explanationHSK 4
- 小说novel, fictionHSK 4
- 再说besides; decide laterHSK 4
- 说明书instructions, manualHSK 4
- 说服convinceHSK 5
- 据说it is saidHSK 5
- 传说legend; it is saidHSK 5
- 说不定perhaps, maybeHSK 5
- 解说commentate, explainHSK 6
Frequently asked questions
How do you write the character 说?
说 has 9 strokes. They follow the usual rules: top to bottom, left to right, horizontal before vertical, outside before inside. The order of each stroke is shown on this page.
What does 说 mean?
说 means “speak, say”. It appears in 说话 (“talk”), 听说 (“I heard that…”), 说法 (“version”), 说明 (“explain”).
How do you pronounce 说?
说 is read shuō. The tone is part of the reading: with another melody it becomes another syllable.
How many strokes does 说 have?
9 strokes.
More characters on the page “Chinese characters with meanings” and in the list of HSK characters by level; whole words are in the dictionary.
Write 说 yourself
In the lessons you write characters stroke by stroke with a finger or a mouse, and the course checks the order. You can start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free