How to say “river” in Chinese
river
“River” in Chinese is 河, hé: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
河 is read hé. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 氵 “water”.
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 “河”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 河. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我家附近有一条河wǒjiāfùjìnyǒuyìtiáohéThere's a river near my home.
- 河上有一座桥。héshangyǒuyízuòqiáoThere's a bridge over the river.
- 晚饭后我们去河边散步吧wǎnfànhòuwǒmenqùhébiānsànbùbaLet's take a walk by the river after dinner.
- 这条河从西往东流zhètiáohécóngxīwǎngdōngliúThis river flows from west to east.
- 沿着这条河一直走，就能看见公园。yánzhezhètiáohéyìzhízǒu,jiùnéngkànjiàngōngyuánKeep walking along the river and you'll see the park.
- 我们沿着河边散步吧wǒmenyánzhehébiānsànbùbaLet's take a walk along the river.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Mountains, rivers, sea”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “river” in Chinese?
“River” in Chinese is 河, pinyin hé.
What does 河 mean?
河 (hé) means “river”.
How do you write 河?
河 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 河?
河 is read hé. Tones: hé — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“river” in the lesson “Mountains, rivers, sea”
This word is from the topic “Seasons and time” 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