How to say “return” in Chinese
return (give back)
“Return” in Chinese is 还, huán: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
还 is read huán. 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, 辶 “walk”.
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 “还”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 还. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 你还要什么？nǐháiyàoshénmeAnything else?
- 你要红色的还是黑色的nǐyàohóngsèdeháishihēisèdeDo you want the red one or the black one?
- 你喝咖啡还是喝茶？nǐhēkāfēiháishihēcháWill you have coffee or tea?
- 我们还是去饭馆吃吧。wǒmenháishiqùfànguǎnchībaWe’d better go eat at a restaurant.
- 我还没买机票wǒháiméimǎijīpiàoI haven’t bought my plane ticket yet.
- 你要白色的还是红色的？nǐyàobáisèdeháishihóngsèdeDo you want the white one or the red one?
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Borrow and return”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “return” in Chinese?
“Return” in Chinese is 还, pinyin huán.
What does 还 mean?
还 (huán) means “return (give back)”.
How do you write 还?
还 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 还?
还 is read huán. Tones: huán — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“return” in the lesson “Borrow and return”
This word is from the topic “Shopping and things” 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.
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