How to say “lie” in Chinese
lie (down)
“Lie” in Chinese is 躺, tǎng: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
躺 is read tǎng. 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, 身 “body”; on the right, 尚 shàng 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 “躺”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 躺. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 他躺在床上看手机tātǎngzàichuángshangkànshǒujīHe's lying in bed looking at his phone.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Feeling sleepy”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “lie” in Chinese?
“Lie” in Chinese is 躺, pinyin tǎng.
What does 躺 mean?
躺 (tǎng) means “lie (down)”.
How do you write 躺?
躺 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 躺?
躺 is read tǎng. Tones: tǎng — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“lie” in the lesson “Feeling sleepy”
This word is from the topic “Health and habits” of HSK 4. 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