善于 meaning in English

shànyú

to be good at; to be adept at

HSK 4verbTraditional 善於15 strokes

Meaning of 善于

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

shànyú

to be good at; to be adept at

How to use 善于

善于 is followed by a verb or verb phrase, not usually a plain noun, and it sounds a bit more formal than 会 or 擅长. It often describes a person's abilities or habits. Example: 她很善于沟通。(Tā hěn shànyú gōutōng.) She is very good at communicating.

善 (shàn) means good or skilled, and 于 (yú) means at or in. Put them together and 善于 is simply "good at" something.

Common mistake: Learners often put a noun right after 善于, as in 善于数学. Natural Chinese uses a verb phrase instead, such as 善于学习数学, or switches to 擅长数学. Also do not confuse 于 (yú) with 与 (yǔ), which means "and" or "with".

善于 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

他tā不bù善shàn于yú记jì人rén名míng。

He's not good at remembering names.

汤tāng姆mǔ善shàn于yú动dòng手shǒu。

Tom is very good at doing things with his hands.

她tā善shàn于yú处chǔ理lǐ儿ér童tóng。

She's good at handling children.

你nǐ善shàn于yú滑huá雪xuě吗ma？

Are you good at skiing?

我wǒ或huò许xǔ不bù善shàn于yú社shè交jiāo,但dàn这zhè并bìng不bù意yì味wèi我wǒ不bù和hé别bié人rén交jiāo谈tán。

I may be antisocial, but it doesn't mean I don't talk to people.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

善 shàn · good · 12 strokes

于 yú · to go · 3 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 善于.

等于	děngyú	to equal; to be tantamount to
终于	zhōngyú	at last; in the end
属于	shǔyú	to belong to; to fall under (a category)
由于	yóuyú	due to; as a result of
完善	wánshàn	(of systems, facilities etc) comprehensive; well-developed
关于	guānyú	pertaining to; concerning
对于	duìyú	regarding; as far as (sth) is concerned; with regard to
于是	yúshì	thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence
处于	chǔyú	to be in (some state, position, or condition)
在于	zàiyú	to rest with; to lie in; to be due to (a certain attribute); (of a matter) to be determine
善良	shànliáng	good and honest; kindhearted
位于	wèiyú	to be located at; to be situated at

Questions about 善于

What does 善于 mean?

善于 (shànyú) means "to be good at; to be adept at" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 善于?

善于 is made of 2 characters: 善 (12 strokes), 于 (3 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.

Is 善于 an HSK word?

Yes. 善于 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 善于 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 善于 is written 善於.

What is the difference between 善于 and 擅长?

Both mean "good at". 擅长 (shàncháng) can take a noun directly, like 擅长音乐, while 善于 is usually followed by a verb, like 善于唱歌. 擅长 also tends to suggest a specialty or a skill you trained for.

How do you say "not good at" with 善于?

Put 不 in front: 不善于 (bù shànyú). For example, 他不善于表达。(Tā bù shànyú biǎodá.) means "He is not good at expressing himself."