How to say “free” in Chinese
free, idle
“Free” in Chinese is 闲, xián: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
闲 is read xián. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
Outside, 门 “door”; inside, 木 “wood”: originally a barrier.
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 “闲”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 闲. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 你平时有什么休闲活动？nǐpíngshíyǒushénmexiūxiánhuódòngWhat do you usually do in your leisure time?
- 闲着也是闲着，我们去看电影吧。xiánzheyěshìxiánzhe,wǒmenqùkàndiànyǐngbaWe're just sitting around anyway — let's go see a movie.
- 闲着也是闲着一起去吧xiánzheyěshìxiánzhe,yìqǐqùbaThere's nothing to do anyway — let's all go!
- 闲着也是闲着去夜市吧xiánzheyěshìxiánzhe,qùyèshìbaThere's nothing to do anyway — let's go to the night market.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Free time”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “free” in Chinese?
“Free” in Chinese is 闲, pinyin xián.
What does 闲 mean?
闲 (xián) means “free, idle”.
How do you write 闲?
闲 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 闲?
闲 is read xián. Tones: xián — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“free” in the lesson “Free time”
This word is from the topic “Leisure and experiences” 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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