How to say “play” in Chinese
play, have fun
“Play” in Chinese is 玩, wán: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
玩 is read wán. 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, 王 “jade”: turning a precious trinket over in your hands.
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 “玩”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 玩. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 星期天我们去玩吧xīngqītiānwǒmenqùwánbaLet’s go out and have fun on Sunday.
- 我弟弟每天玩游戏wǒdìdiměitiānwányóuxìMy little brother plays games every day.
- 其实我不太喜欢玩游戏qíshíwǒbútàixǐhuanwányóuxìActually, I don't really like playing games.
- 我可以玩一会儿游戏吗？wǒkěyǐwányíhuìryóuxìmaCan I play for a bit?
- 别生气我只是开玩笑biéshēngqì,wǒzhǐshìkāiwánxiàoDon't be mad, I'm just joking.
- 有空2来我家玩吧yǒukòngláiwǒjiāwánbaCome over when you have time.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “So much fun!”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “play” in Chinese?
“Play” in Chinese is 玩, pinyin wán.
What does 玩 mean?
玩 (wán) means “play, have fun”.
How do you write 玩?
玩 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 玩?
玩 is read wán. Tones: wán — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“play” in the lesson “So much fun!”
This word is from the topic “Study, work and free time” 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.
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