How to say “disaster” in Chinese
disaster, calamity
“Disaster” in Chinese is 灾, zāi: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
灾 is read zāi. 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 top, 宀 “roof”; under it, 火 “fire”: a house on fire.
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 “灾”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 灾. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 这场地震给当地带来了巨大的灾难。zhèchǎngdìzhèngěidāngdìdàiláilejùdàdezāinànThis earthquake brought a huge catastrophe to the area.
- 记者已经抵达灾区jìzhěyǐjīngdǐdázāiqūReporters have already arrived in the disaster area.
- 我们村去年受了灾wǒmencūnqùniánshòulezāiOur village was hit by a disaster last year.
- 救援人员连夜赶到了灾区。jiùyuánrényuánliányègǎndàolezāiqūRescuers rushed to the disaster area that same night.
- 政府立即展开了救灾工作zhèngfǔlìjízhǎnkāilejiùzāigōngzuòThe government immediately launched disaster relief work.
- 灾区现在最缺什么？zāiqūxiànzàizuìquēshénmeWhat does the disaster area need most right now?
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Flood”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “disaster” in Chinese?
“Disaster” in Chinese is 灾, pinyin zāi.
What does 灾 mean?
灾 (zāi) means “disaster, calamity”.
How do you write 灾?
灾 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 灾?
灾 is read zāi. Tones: zāi — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“disaster” in the lesson “Flood”
This word is from the topic “Energy, ecology, disasters” of HSK 6. 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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