How to say “joke” in Chinese
joke
“Joke” in Chinese is 开玩笑, kāi wán xiào: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
开玩笑 is read kāi wán xiào: 3 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
On the left, 王 “jade”: turning a precious trinket over in your hands.
On top, 竹 “bamboo”.
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 “开玩笑”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 开玩笑. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 别生气我只是开玩笑biéshēngqì,wǒzhǐshìkāiwánxiàoDon't be mad, I'm just joking.
- 别理他他在开玩笑biélǐtā,tāzàikāiwánxiàoIgnore him, he's joking.
More words from the lesson “Congratulations and jokes”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “joke” in Chinese?
“Joke” in Chinese is 开玩笑, pinyin kāi wánxiào.
What does 开玩笑 mean?
开玩笑 (kāi wánxiào) means “joke”.
How do you write 开玩笑?
开玩笑 is 3 characters: 开 (kāi) — open; drive; 玩 (wán) — play; 笑 (xiào) — laugh. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 开玩笑?
开玩笑 is read kāi wánxiào. Tones: kāi — first tone, wán — second tone, xiào — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“joke” in the lesson “Congratulations and jokes”
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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