称 chēng / chèn / chèng — balanced; to fit; well-off; suitable; to call; to praise
大家都称他为“小天才”。Dà jiā dōu chēng tā wéi “xiǎo tiān cái”.Everyone calls him a little genius.
Common words: 名称 (míng chēng)、称为 (chēng wéi)、称赞 (chēng zàn)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to call"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to call", including 称 (chēng / chèn / chèng), 呼 (hū), 唤 (huàn). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to call" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 称 (chēng / chèn / chèng), 呼 (hū), 唤 (huàn) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span chēng, chèn, chèng, hū, huàn — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 称 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 称 chēng / chèn / chèngbalanced; to fit; well-off; suitable; to call; to praiseUseful words: 名称, 称为
- 呼 hūto call; to cry; to shout; to breath out; to exhaleUseful words: 呼吸, 招呼
- 唤 huànto callUseful words: 呼唤, 唤起
Common words for these 3 "to call" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 称 (chēng / chèn / chèng) — so "to call" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
名称míng chēngname (of a thing); name (of an organization)称为chēng wéito be called; to be known as; to call it "..."称赞chēng zànto praise; to commend; to compliment呼吸hū xīto breathe招呼zhāo huto call out to; to greet; to say hello to; to inform打招呼dǎ zhāo huto greet sb by word or action; to give prior notice呼唤hū huànto call out (a name etc); to shout唤起huàn qǐto waken (to action); to rouse (the masses); to evoke (attention, recollection etc)使唤shǐ huanto order sb around; (coll.) to handle (a draught animal, tool, machine etc); Taiwan pr.
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 call".
呼 hū — to call; to cry; to shout; to breath out; to exhale
请深深地吸气，再慢慢呼气。Qǐng shēn shēn de xī qì, zài màn màn hū qì.Please breathe in deeply, then slowly breathe out.
Common words: 呼吸 (hū xī)、招呼 (zhāo hu)、打招呼 (dǎ zhāo hu)
唤 huàn — to call
妈妈在门口呼唤孩子回家吃饭。Mā ma zài mén kǒu hū huàn hái zi huí jiā chī fàn.Mom called from the door for the children to come home to eat.
Common words: 呼唤 (hū huàn)、唤起 (huàn qǐ)、使唤 (shǐ huan)
All 3 characters
Open 称、呼、唤 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.