How to say “discover” in Chinese

发现

fāxiàn

discover, find

verb · HSK 3 · topic “Work and business”

“Discover” in Chinese is 发现, fā xiàn: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

发现 is read fā xiàn: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

fā — 1st tonehigh and level, like a long note

xiàn — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”

How to write it

发

fā — send, emit

Its second reading is fà, “hair”: in 头发 it sounds with the neutral tone, fa.

现

xiàn — current; appear

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “发现”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 发现. Tap the sound icon to listen.

我发现手机不见了wǒfāxiànshǒujībújiànleI found that my phone was gone.
这件事被经理发现了zhèjiànshìbèijīnglǐfāxiànleThe manager found out about it.
王老师善于发现每个学生的优点WánglǎoshīshànyúfāxiànměigexuéshengdeyōudiǎnTeacher Wang is good at spotting each student's strengths.
我发现了一根白头发wǒfāxiànleyìgēnbáitóufaI found a gray hair.
通过观察，他发现了一个规律。tōngguòguānchá,tāfāxiànleyígeguīlǜThrough observation, he discovered a pattern.
她发现有人在跟踪她tāfāxiànyǒurénzàigēnzōngtāShe noticed that someone was following her.

More words from the lesson “What happened and what to do”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “discover” in Chinese?

“Discover” in Chinese is 发现, pinyin fāxiàn.

What does 发现 mean?

发现 (fāxiàn) means “discover, find”.

How do you write 发现?

发现 is 2 characters: 发 (fā) — send, emit; 现 (xiàn) — current; appear. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 发现?

发现 is read fāxiàn. Tones: fā — first tone, xiàn — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“discover” in the lesson “What happened and what to do”

This word is from the topic “Work and business” of HSK 3. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

Start for free