How to say “tell” in Chinese
tell (someone)
“Tell” in Chinese is 告诉, gào su: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
告诉 is read gào su: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
At the bottom, 口 “mouth”.
On the left, 讠 “speech”. In 告诉 it is read with the neutral tone.
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 “告诉”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 告诉. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 别忘了告诉他biéwànglegàosutāDon't forget to tell him.
- 这件事别告诉别人zhèjiànshìbiégàosubiérénDon't tell anyone else about this.
- 你应该告诉经理nǐyīnggāigàosujīnglǐYou should tell the manager.
- 你走的时候告诉我一声nǐzǒudeshíhougàosuwǒyìshēngLet me know when you leave.
- 他故意不告诉我。tāgùyìbúgàosuwǒHe's not telling me on purpose.
- 你为什么不敢告诉父亲？nǐwèishénmebùgǎngàosufùqīnWhy don't you dare tell your father?
More words from the lesson “Ask for help”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “tell” in Chinese?
“Tell” in Chinese is 告诉, pinyin gàosu.
What does 告诉 mean?
告诉 (gàosu) means “tell (someone)”.
How do you write 告诉?
告诉 is 2 characters: 告 (gào) — inform; 诉 (sù) — tell. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 告诉?
告诉 is read gàosu. Tones: gào — fourth tone, su — neutral tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“tell” in the lesson “Ask for help”
This word is from the topic “Studies and tasks” of HSK 2. 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.
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