Meaning
sound; voice; (a measure word; used for sounds); tone; noise
Chinese: 声音、名声。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “sheng” becomes a different word in each tone. 声 is the 1st 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
- 声音shēng yīnvoice; sound
- 大声dà shēngloud voice; in a loud voice; loudly
- 小声xiǎo shēngin a low voice; (speak) in whispers
- 声明shēng míngto state; to declare; statement; declaration
- 歌声gē shēngsinging voice; fig. original voice of a poet
Example Sentence
我听见了鸟叫的声音。Wǒ tīng jiàn le niǎo jiào de shēng yīn.I heard the sound of birds singing.
我WǒI听见tīng jiànto hear了le(completed action)鸟niǎobird叫jiàoto shout的deof声音shēng yīnvoice。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Simplified from 聲 (which has 殳 + 耳 ‘ear’). It means ‘sound, voice; tone (of a syllable); reputation; to declare’ (声音, 声调, 名声).
A way to remember it
‘Sound / voice / tone’: 声音 (sound), 四声 (the four tones).