How to say “salty” in Chinese
salty
“Salty” in Chinese is 咸, xián: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
咸 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
The same sign is the upper part of 感 gǎn.
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 “咸”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 咸. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 味道不错就是有点儿咸wèidàobúcuò,jiùshìyǒudiǎnrxiánIt tastes good, it's just a bit salty.
- 你把汤尝一尝，看看咸不咸。nǐbǎtāngchángyicháng,kànkanxiánbuxiánHave a taste of the soup — see if it's too salty.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Sour, Spicy, Salty”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “salty” in Chinese?
“Salty” in Chinese is 咸, pinyin xián.
What does 咸 mean?
咸 (xián) means “salty”.
How do you write 咸?
咸 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 咸?
咸 is read xián. Tones: xián — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“salty” in the lesson “Sour, Spicy, Salty”
This word is from the topic “Food and Cooking” 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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