Meaning
persuade (politically); to speak; to say
Chinese: 用语言表达。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “shuo” becomes a different word in each tone. 说 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
- 说话shuō huàto speak; to say; to talk; to gossip
- 说明shuō míngto explain; to illustrate; to indicate; to show
- 听说tīng shuōto hear (sth said); one hears (that); hearsay; listening and speaking
- 小说xiǎo shuōnovel; fiction
- 比如说bǐ rú shuōfor example
Example Sentence
请你慢慢说，我在听。Qǐng nǐ màn màn shuō, wǒ zài tīng.Please speak slowly; I'm listening.
请Qǐngto ask你nǐyou慢慢màn mànslowly说shuōto speak，我wǒI在zàiat听tīngto listen to。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The speech radical 讠 (meaning) plus 兑 (sound): to put into words — ‘to speak / say’. Simplified from 說.
A way to remember it
Speech (讠) + a sound — to speak.
Easy to confuse with
- 话‘Speech’: also the speech radical 讠, but paired with 舌 (tongue).