How to say “speak” in Chinese
speak, say
“Speak” in Chinese is 说, shuō: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
说 is read shuō. 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, 讠 “speech”.
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 “说”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 说. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 你会说汉语吗nǐhuìshuōHànyǔmaCan you speak Chinese?
- 我会说一点儿wǒhuìshuōyìdiǎnrI can speak a little.
- 我会说一点儿中文wǒhuìshuōyìdiǎnrZhōngwénI can speak a little Chinese.
- 我学汉语会说一点儿wǒxuéHànyǔ,huìshuōyìdiǎnrI’m learning Chinese and can speak a little.
- 请不要说话qǐngbúyàoshuōhuàPlease don’t talk.
- 老师让我们多说汉语lǎoshīràngwǒmenduōshuōHànyǔThe teacher has us speak more Chinese.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Do you speak Chinese?”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “speak” in Chinese?
“Speak” in Chinese is 说, pinyin shuō.
What does 说 mean?
说 (shuō) means “speak, say”.
How do you write 说?
说 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 说?
说 is read shuō. Tones: shuō — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“speak” in the lesson “Do you speak Chinese?”
This word is from the topic “Meeting people” of HSK 1. 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