说 shuō — persuade (politically); to speak; to say
请你慢慢说，我在听。Qǐng nǐ màn màn shuō, wǒ zài tīng.Please speak slowly; I'm listening.
Common words: 说话 (shuō huà)、说明 (shuō míng)、听说 (tīng shuō)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to say"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to say", including 说 (shuō), 告 (gào), 言 (yán), 云 (yún), 曰 (yuē). Study pinyin, English meanings…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to say" covers 5 different Chinese characters — 说 (shuō), 告 (gào), 言 (yán), 云 (yún), 曰 (yuē) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 5 characters do not share a sound — their readings span shuō, gào, yán, yún, yuē — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 说 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 说 shuōpersuade (politically); to speak; to sayUseful words: 说话, 说明
- 告 gàoto tell; to inform; to sayUseful words: 告诉, 广告
- 言 yánto speak; to say; talk; wordUseful words: 语言, 发言
- 云 yún(classical) to say; cloud; (abbr.) for Yunnan; surnameUseful words: 多云, 乌云
- 曰 yuēto speak; to sayUseful words: 子曰, 号曰
Common words for these 5 "to say" characters
Anchor each of these 5 characters in a word you can picture — start with 说 (shuō) — so "to say" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
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告诉gào sùto press charges; to file a complaint广告guǎng gàoto advertise; a commercial; advertisement报告bào gàoto inform; to report; to make known; report语言yǔ yánlanguage发言fā yánto make a speech; statement; utterance留言liú yánto leave a message; to leave one's comments; message多云duō yún(meteorology) cloudy
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 "to say".
告 gào — to tell; to inform; to say
请告诉我你的地址。Qǐng gào su wǒ nǐ de dì zhǐ.Please tell me your address.
Common words: 告诉 (gào sù)、广告 (guǎng gào)、报告 (bào gào)
言 yán — to speak; to say; talk; word
行动比语言更重要。Xíng dòng bǐ yǔ yán gèng zhòng yào.Actions are more important than words.
Common words: 语言 (yǔ yán)、发言 (fā yán)、留言 (liú yán)
云 yún — (classical) to say; cloud; (abbr.) for Yunnan; surname
山顶上常常被云雾笼罩。Shān dǐng shàng cháng cháng bèi yún wù lóng zhào.The mountaintop is often shrouded in clouds and mist.
Common words: 多云 (duō yún)、乌云 (wū yún)、风云 (fēng yún)
曰 yuē — to speak; to say
古书上常常写着“子曰”两个字。Gǔ shū shàng cháng cháng xiě zhe “zǐ yuē” liǎng ge zì.Ancient books often have the words the Master said.
Common words: 子曰 (zǐ yuē)、号曰 (hào yuē)、诗曰 (shī yuē)
All 5 characters
Open 说、告、言 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.