话 huà — dialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; words
他说的话我都听懂了。Tā shuō de huà wǒ dōu tīng dǒng le.I understood everything he said.
Common words: 电话 (diàn huà)、说话 (shuō huà)、打电话 (dǎ diàn huà)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "speech"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "speech", including 话 (huà), 语 (yǔ / yù), 讲 (jiǎng). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "speech" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 话 (huà), 语 (yǔ / yù), 讲 (jiǎng) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span huà, yǔ, yù, jiǎng — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 话 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 话 huàdialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; wordsUseful words: 电话, 说话
- 语 yǔ / yùdialect; language; speech; tell toUseful words: 外语, 语言
- 讲 jiǎngto talk; speech; to speak; to tell; to explainUseful words: 讲话, 听讲
Common words for these 3 "speech" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 话 (huà) — so "speech" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
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外语wài yǔforeign language语言yǔ yánlanguage词语cí yǔword (general term including monosyllables through to short phrases); term (e.g. technical term); expression讲话jiǎng huàa speech; to speak; to talk; to address听讲tīng jiǎngto attend a lecture; to listen to a talk演讲yǎn jiǎngto give a lecture; to make a speech
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 3 ways to say "speech".
语 yǔ / yù — dialect; language; speech; tell to
汉语是世界上使用人数最多的语言。Hàn yǔ shì shì jiè shàng shǐ yòng rén shù zuì duō de yǔ yán.Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world.
Common words: 外语 (wài yǔ)、语言 (yǔ yán)、词语 (cí yǔ)
讲 jiǎng — to talk; speech; to speak; to tell; to explain
老师正在讲一个有趣的故事。Lǎo shī zhèng zài jiǎng yí ge yǒu qù de gù shi.The teacher is telling an interesting story.
Common words: 讲话 (jiǎng huà)、听讲 (tīng jiǎng)、演讲 (yǎn jiǎng)
All 3 characters
Open 话、语、讲 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.