How to say “inhale” in Chinese
inhale, suck in
“Inhale” in Chinese is 吸, xī: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
吸 is read xī. 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, 口 “mouth”; on the right, 及 jí — as in 级 and 极.
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 “吸”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 吸. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 这里不能吸烟。zhèlǐbùnéngxīyānNo smoking here.
- 我从来不吸烟。wǒcóngláibùxīyānI never smoke.
- 你吸烟吗？nǐxīyānmaDo you smoke?
- 我从来没吸过2烟wǒcóngláiméixīguoyānI've never smoked in my life.
- 我再也不吸烟了。wǒzàiyěbùxīyānleI'll never smoke again.
- 这里禁止吸烟。zhèlǐjìnzhǐxīyānSmoking is prohibited here.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Bad habits”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “inhale” in Chinese?
“Inhale” in Chinese is 吸, pinyin xī.
What does 吸 mean?
吸 (xī) means “inhale, suck in”.
How do you write 吸?
吸 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 吸?
吸 is read xī. Tones: xī — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“inhale” in the lesson “Bad habits”
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.
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