Meaning of 听说
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to hear (sth said)
- one hears (that)
- hearsay
- listening and speaking
How to use 听说
听说 usually starts a sentence to report information you got from other people, like English "I heard that" or "they say." You can also put a source in the middle: 我听他说 (wǒ tīng tā shuō), I heard from him. Example: 听说他下个月结婚。(Tīngshuō tā xià gè yuè jiéhūn.) I heard he is getting married next month.
听说 is built from 听 (tīng, to listen) and 说 (shuō, to speak). Picture yourself listening to what someone else says: that is how you hear news secondhand.
Common mistake: Learners often use 听说 when they mean physically hearing a sound, as in "I heard a noise." For that, use 听到 (tīngdào) or 听见 (tīngjiàn). 听说 is only for news or information passed on by others.
听说 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
听 tīng · to listen to · 7 strokes
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- 7
说 shuō · to speak · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 听说.
| 听到 | tīngdào | to hear |
| 说话 | shuōhuà | to speak; to say |
| 听见 | tīngjiàn | to hear |
| 好听 | hǎotīng | pleasant to hear |
| 听写 | tīngxiě | (of a pupil) to write down (in a dictation exercise); dictation; (music) to transcribe by |
| 说明 | shuōmíng | to explain; to illustrate |
| 小说 | xiǎoshuō | novel; fiction |
| 比如说 | bǐrú shuō | for example |
| 难听 | nántīng | unpleasant to hear; coarse |
| 听讲 | tīngjiǎng | to attend a lecture; to listen to a talk |
| 传说 | chuánshuō | legend; folk tale; to repeat from mouth to mouth; they say that... |
| 据说 | jùshuō | it is said that; reportedly |
Questions about 听说
What does 听说 mean?
听说 (tīngshuō) means "to hear (sth said); one hears (that)" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 听说?
听说 is made of 2 characters: 听 (7 strokes), 说 (9 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 听说 an HSK word?
Yes. 听说 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 听说 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 听说 is written 聽說.
Can 听说 mean listening and speaking as language skills?
Yes. In language learning contexts, 听说 can mean listening and speaking together, as in 听说读写 (tīng shuō dú xiě), listening, speaking, reading and writing. Context makes the meaning clear.
How do I say who I heard it from with 听说?
Put the person between 听 and 说: 我听朋友说… (wǒ tīng péngyou shuō), I heard from a friend that. You can also say 听说过 (tīngshuō guo) to mean you have heard of something before, as in 我听说过这个地方 (I have heard of this place).