同 tóng — like; same; similar; together; alike; with
我和他是同一个班的。Wǒ hé tā shì tóng yí ge bān de.He and I are in the same class.
Common words: 同学 (tóng xué)、不同 (bù tóng)、同时 (tóng shí)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "similar"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "similar", including 同 (tóng), 像 (xiàng), 类 (lèi), 似 (sì), 肖 (xiào / xiāo). Study pinyin, English meanings…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "similar" covers 5 different Chinese characters — 同 (tóng), 像 (xiàng), 类 (lèi), 似 (sì), 肖 (xiào / xiāo) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 5 characters do not share a sound — their readings span tóng, xiàng, lèi, sì, xiào, xiāo — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 同 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 同 tónglike; same; similar; together; alike; withUseful words: 同学, 不同
- 像 xiàng(look) like; similar (to); appearance; to appear; to seem; imageUseful words: 好像, 偶像
- 类 lèikind; type; class; category; similar; likeUseful words: 人类, 类似
- 似 sìto seem; to appear; similar; like; to resembleUseful words: 类似, 相似
- 肖 xiào / xiāosimilar; resembling; to resemble; to be likeUseful words: 肖像, 不肖
Common words for these 5 "similar" characters
Anchor each of these 5 characters in a word you can picture — start with 同 (tóng) — so "similar" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
同学tóng xuéto study at the same school; fellow student; classmate不同bù tóngdifferent; distinct; not the same; not alike同时tóng shíat the same time; simultaneously好像hǎo xiàngas if; to seem like偶像ǒu xiàngidol摄像机shè xiàng jīvideo camera人类rén lèihumanity; human race; mankind类似lèi sìsimilar; analogous类型lèi xíngtype; kind; category; (computer programming) type类似lèi sìsimilar; analogous
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 5 ways to say "similar".
像 xiàng — (look) like; similar (to); appearance; to appear; to seem; image
这个孩子长得很像他爸爸。Zhè ge hái zi zhǎng de hěn xiàng tā bà ba.This child looks a lot like his father.
Common words: 好像 (hǎo xiàng)、偶像 (ǒu xiàng)、摄像机 (shè xiàng jī)
类 lèi — kind; type; class; category; similar; like
商店里有各类水果。Shāng diàn lǐ yǒu gè lèi shuǐ guǒ.There are all kinds of fruit in the store.
Common words: 人类 (rén lèi)、类似 (lèi sì)、类型 (lèi xíng)
似 sì — to seem; to appear; similar; like; to resemble
这两幅画看起来很相似。Zhè liǎng fú huà kàn qǐ lái hěn xiāng sì.These two paintings look very similar.
Common words: 类似 (lèi sì)、相似 (xiāng sì)、似乎 (sì hū)
肖 xiào / xiāo — similar; resembling; to resemble; to be like
这幅画把老人画得惟妙惟肖。Zhè fú huà bǎ lǎo rén huà de wéi miào wéi xiào.This painting depicts the old man vividly and lifelike.
Common words: 肖像 (xiào xiàng)、不肖 (bù xiào)、生肖 (shēng xiào)
All 5 characters
Open 同、像、类 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.