How to say “explain” in Chinese

解释

jiěshì

explain

verb · HSK 4 · topic “Politeness and conversation”

“Explain” in Chinese is 解释, jiě shì: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

解释 is read jiě shì: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

jiě — 3rd tonelow, dipping and rising a little

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

How to write it

解

jiě — untie, explain

角 “horn”, 刀 “knife” and 牛 “ox”: cutting up an ox.

释

shì — explain; release

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 “解释”.

Examples

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

你不必解释我都明白nǐbúbìjiěshì,wǒdōumíngbaiNo need to explain, I understand everything.
这件事我怎么跟经理解释？zhèjiànshìwǒzěnmegēnjīnglǐjiěshìHow do I explain this to the manager?

More words from the lesson “Sorry to bother you”

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

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “explain” in Chinese?

“Explain” in Chinese is 解释, pinyin jiěshì.

What does 解释 mean?

解释 (jiěshì) means “explain”.

How do you write 解释?

解释 is 2 characters: 解 (jiě) — untie, explain; 释 (shì) — explain; release. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 解释?

解释 is read jiěshì. Tones: jiě — third tone, shì — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“explain” in the lesson “Sorry to bother you”

This word is from the topic “Politeness and conversation” of HSK 4. 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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