How to say “south” in Chinese
south
“South” in Chinese is 南, nán: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
南 is read nán. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
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 “南”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 南. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 东南西北dōngnánxīběieast, south, west, north
- 从这儿向南走cóngzhèrxiàngnánzǒuGo south from here.
- 北方比南方冷běifāngbǐnánfānglěngThe north is colder than the south.
- 你是南方人吗？nǐshìnánfāngrénmaAre you from the south?
- 我坐高铁去南方。wǒzuògāotiěqùnánfāngI'm taking the high-speed train to the south.
- 我们以前是同学，后来他去了南方。wǒmenyǐqiánshìtóngxué,hòuláitāqùlenánfāngWe used to be classmates, and later he moved south.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “The four directions”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “south” in Chinese?
“South” in Chinese is 南, pinyin nán.
What does 南 mean?
南 (nán) means “south”.
How do you write 南?
南 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 南?
南 is read nán. Tones: nán — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“south” in the lesson “The four directions”
This word is from the topic “City and travel” 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