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Meaning Index

Chinese characters meaning "to announce"

Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to announce", including 报 (bào), 布 (bù), 宣 (xuān). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms…

How to Study This Meaning Group

The English word "to announce" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 报 (bào), 布 (bù), 宣 (xuān) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span bào, bù, xuān — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 报 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.

  • 报 bàoto announce; to inform; report; newspaper; recompense; revengeUseful words: 报纸, 报名
  • 布 bùdiffuse; extend; notify; to declare; to announce; to spreadUseful words: 宣布, 公布
  • 宣 xuānto declare (publicly); to announceUseful words: 宣布, 宣传

Common words for these 3 "to announce" characters

Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 报 (bào) — so "to announce" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.

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 "to announce".

bào — to announce; to inform; report; newspaper; recompense; revenge

爸爸每天早上看报纸。Bà ba měi tiān zǎo shang kàn bào zhǐ.Dad reads the newspaper every morning.

Common words: 报纸 (bào zhǐ)、报名 (bào míng)、日报 (rì bào)

— diffuse; extend; notify; to declare; to announce; to spread

妈妈用一块布做了一个袋子。Mā ma yòng yí kuài bù zuò le yí ge dài zi.Mom made a bag out of a piece of cloth.

Common words: 宣布 (xuān bù)、公布 (gōng bù)、布置 (bù zhì)

xuān — to declare (publicly); to announce

老师向大家宣布了一个好消息。Lǎo shī xiàng dà jiā xuān bù le yí ge hǎo xiāo xi.The teacher announced a piece of good news to everyone.

Common words: 宣布 (xuān bù)、宣传 (xuān chuán)、宣誓 (xuān shì)

All 3 characters

Open 报、布、宣 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.