How to say “poor” in Chinese
poor
“Poor” in Chinese is 穷, qióng: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
穷 is read qióng. 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 top, 穴 “cave, burrow”; below, 力 “strength”.
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 “穷”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 穷. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 以前这里很穷，现在富起来了。yǐqiánzhèlǐhěnqióng,xiànzàifùqǐlaileThis place used to be poor, but now it has gotten rich.
- 他小时候家里很穷tāxiǎoshíhoujiālihěnqióngWhen he was little, his family was very poor.
- 这个地方以前很穷吧？zhègedìfangyǐqiánhěnqióngbaThis place used to be poor, right?
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Rich and poor”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “poor” in Chinese?
“Poor” in Chinese is 穷, pinyin qióng.
What does 穷 mean?
穷 (qióng) means “poor”.
How do you write 穷?
穷 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 穷?
穷 is read qióng. Tones: qióng — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“poor” in the lesson “Rich and poor”
This word is from the topic “Economy” of HSK 5. 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