How to say “adjust” in Chinese

调

tiáo

adjust, tune

verb · HSK 5 · topic “Gadgets and the internet”

“Adjust” in Chinese is 调, tiáo: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

调 is read tiáo. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

tiáo — 2nd tonerising, like a surprised “huh?”

How to write it

调

tiáo — adjust, tune

On the left, 讠 “speech”. Its second reading is diào, “tone, melody”.

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 “调”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 调. Tap the sound icon to listen.

太热了开空调吧tàirèle,kāikōngtiáobaIt's too hot, let's turn on the AC.
请把空调关了qǐngbǎkōngtiáoguānlePlease turn off the air conditioner.
空调坏了，得找人来修。kōngtiáohuàile,děizhǎorénláixiūThe air conditioner is broken, we need to get someone to fix it.
空调又坏了，怎么办？kōngtiáoyòuhuàile,zěnmebànThe air conditioner broke again — what do we do?
警察正在调查这件事jǐngcházhèngzàidiàocházhèjiànshìThe police are investigating the matter right now.
师傅明天来给我们安空调shīfumíngtiānláigěiwǒmenānkōngtiáoThe repairman is coming tomorrow to install our air conditioner.

More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.

More words from the lesson “Settings”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “adjust” in Chinese?

“Adjust” in Chinese is 调, pinyin tiáo.

What does 调 mean?

调 (tiáo) means “adjust, tune”.

How do you write 调?

调 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 调?

调 is read tiáo. Tones: tiáo — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“adjust” in the lesson “Settings”

This word is from the topic “Gadgets and the internet” 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.

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