How to say “cough” in Chinese
cough
“Cough” in Chinese is 咳嗽, ké sou: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
咳嗽 is read ké sou: 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
On the left, 口 “mouth”. The right part is the same as in 孩 hái and 该 gāi.
On the left, 口 “mouth”. On its own it's read sòu; in 咳嗽 it takes 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 “咳嗽”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 咳嗽. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我的咳嗽怎么也不好。wǒdekésouzěnmeyěbùhǎoMy cough just won't go away.
- 吃了三天药他仍然咳嗽chīlesāntiānyào,tāréngránkésouHe's taken medicine for three days, but he's still coughing.
More words from the lesson “What hurts?”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “cough” in Chinese?
“Cough” in Chinese is 咳嗽, pinyin késou.
What does 咳嗽 mean?
咳嗽 (késou) means “cough”.
How do you write 咳嗽?
咳嗽 is 2 characters: 咳 (ké) — cough; 嗽 (sòu) — cough. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 咳嗽?
咳嗽 is read késou. Tones: ké — second tone, sou — neutral tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“cough” in the lesson “What hurts?”
This word is from the topic “Health and habits” 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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