How to say “oil” in Chinese
oil, petroleum
“Oil” in Chinese is 石油, shí yóu: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
石油 is read shí yóu: 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
Under the cliff 厂 lies a stone 口. As a side component it means “stone”: 破, 研, 础.
On the left, 氵 “water”; on the right, 由 yóu hints at the sound.
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 “石油”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 石油. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 这个国家的石油主要依靠进口zhègeguójiādeshíyóuzhǔyàoyīkàojìnkǒuThis country relies mainly on imports for its oil.
- 石油是重要的能源shíyóushìzhòngyàodenéngyuánOil is an important energy resource.
- 政府大力发展新能源，以便减少对石油的依赖。zhèngfǔdàlìfāzhǎnxīnnéngyuán,yǐbiànjiǎnshǎoduìshíyóudeyīlàiThe government is vigorously developing new energy sources to reduce dependence on oil.
More words from the lesson “Oil, coal and gas”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “oil” in Chinese?
“Oil” in Chinese is 石油, pinyin shíyóu.
What does 石油 mean?
石油 (shíyóu) means “oil, petroleum”.
How do you write 石油?
石油 is 2 characters: 石 (shí) — stone; 油 (yóu) — oil; gasoline. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 石油?
石油 is read shíyóu. Tones: shí — second tone, yóu — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“oil” in the lesson “Oil, coal and gas”
This word is from the topic “Energy, ecology, disasters” of HSK 6. 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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