How to say “be good at” in Chinese
be good at
“Be good at” in Chinese is 擅长, shàn cháng: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
擅长 is read shàn cháng: 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, 扌 “hand”: skill lies in the hands. Sounds the same as 善 shàn in 善于.
Its second reading is zhǎng, “grow”.
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 “擅长”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 擅长. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我擅长画画，不擅长唱歌。wǒshànchánghuàhuà,búshànchángchànggēI'm good at drawing, but not at singing.
- 你擅长什么？nǐshànchángshénmeWhat are you good at?
- 她擅长数学不擅长语文tāshànchángshùxué,búshànchángyǔwénShe's good at math, but not at Chinese.
- 我不擅长表达自己wǒbúshànchángbiǎodázìjǐI'm not good at expressing myself.
- 这位大师擅长描绘动物zhèwèidàshīshànchángmiáohuìdòngwùThis master is especially good at depicting animals.
More words from the lesson “Talents and Skills”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “be good at” in Chinese?
“Be good at” in Chinese is 擅长, pinyin shàncháng.
What does 擅长 mean?
擅长 (shàncháng) means “be good at”.
How do you write 擅长?
擅长 is 2 characters: 擅 (shàn) — be good at, excel in; 长 (cháng) — long. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 擅长?
擅长 is read shàncháng. Tones: shàn — fourth tone, cháng — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“be good at” in the lesson “Talents and Skills”
This word is from the topic “Learning and Language” 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