Writing
说话 (shuō huà) — how to say "to speak" in Chinese
说话
To speak, to talk, to tell
separable verb
How to use it
Splits into two parts, with other words in between: how much, how long, 了 or 过.
说了几句话
shuō le jǐ jù huà
said a few words
Character composition
说
to speak, to say
话
speech, words
Radicals / Keys
言
Speech
#149 · yán · 7 strokes
Synonyms
Collocations
听老师说话
tīng lǎo shī shuō huà
listen to the teacher speaking
和朋友说话
hé péng you shuō huà
talk with a friend
慢慢说话
màn màn shuō huà
speak slowly
Examples
上课的时候别说话，认真听。
Don't talk during class, listen carefully.
别说话
Don't talk.
Mnemonic
[shuō huà-] Shrek finds a magic talking hat labeled 说话. 🎩🗣️ "Shrek, tell me a story to unveil my secrets!" the hat whispers. Shrek grins and starts speaking about his swamp adventures, and the hat begins to reveal its magical surprises.
Frequently asked questions
How to say speak in Mandarin?
"to speak" in Chinese is 说话 (shuō huà).
说话 meaning in English
说话 (shuō huà) means "To speak, to talk, to tell".
How is 说话 pronounced?
It is pronounced shuō huà (written as shuo hua, shuohua). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
How do you write "to speak" in Chinese characters?
It is written 说话: 说 has 9 strokes, 话 has 8 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK level is 说话?
说话 belongs to the HSK 2 vocabulary list.
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