Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

dialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; words

Chinese: 话语、语言。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “hua” becomes a different word in each tone. 话 is the 4th tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 电话diàn huàtelephone; phone call; phone number
  • 说话shuō huàto speak; to say; to talk; to gossip
  • 打电话dǎ diàn huàto make a telephone call
  • 讲话jiǎng huàa speech; to speak; to talk; to address
  • 的话de huàif (coming after a conditional clause)

Example Sentence

他说的话我都听懂了。Tā shuō de huà wǒ dōu tīng dǒng le.I understood everything he said.

heshuōto speakdeofhuàdialectIdōuall听懂tīng dǒngto understand (on hearing)le(completed action)

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

The speech radical 讠 (meaning) plus 舌 (tongue): words formed with the tongue — ‘speech / words / talk’. Simplified from 話.

A way to remember it

Speech (讠) shaped by the tongue (舌) — words.

Easy to confuse with

  • shé‘Tongue’: the right-hand part of 话, on its own.