TraceHanzi

对话 meaning in English

duìhuà

to talk (with sb); dialogue; conversation

HSK 2verbnounTraditional 對話13 strokes

Meaning of 对话

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

duìhuà
  1. to talk (with sb)
  2. dialogue; conversation

How to use 对话

对话 works as a noun for a conversation or dialogue, like the dialogues in a textbook, and as a verb meaning to hold talks with someone. As a verb it often appears with 和 or 跟 before the other person, and it can sound a bit formal, so in casual speech people often say 聊天 (liáotiān) or 说话 (shuōhuà) instead. Example: 我们来读一下这段对话。(Wǒmen lái dú yíxià zhè duàn duìhuà.) Let's read this dialogue.

对 (duì) means facing or toward someone, and 话 (huà) means words or speech. Put them together and you get words passing between two people who face each other: a dialogue.

Common mistake: Learners sometimes say 我对话他 to mean "I talked with him." Chinese needs 我和他对话 or, more naturally, 我和他说话. Also keep the fourth tone on both syllables, duìhuà, and do not drop it to a neutral tone the way 对不起 (duìbuqǐ) does.

对话 in example sentences

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

我wǒ没méi有yǒu参cān与yù对duì话huà。
I did not participate in the dialog.
汤tāng姆mǔ没méi有yǒu和hé玛mǎ丽lì对duì话huà的de机jī会huì。
Tom didn't have a chance to speak to Mary.
我wǒ们men的de对duì话huà总zǒng是shì以yǐ争zhēng吵chǎo收shōu场chǎng。
Our conversation always ends in a quarrel.
和hé一yí个gè只zhǐ说shuō"是shì"与yǔ"否fǒu"的de人rén维wéi持chí一yī段duàn对duì话huà是shì很hěn难nán的de。
It is difficult to keep up a conversation with someone who only says "yes" and "no".
我wǒ父fù母mǔ通tōng常cháng用yòng法fǎ语yǔ对duì话huà，即jí使shǐ我wǒ母mǔ亲qīn的de母mǔ语yǔ是shì英yīng语yǔ。
My parents usually speak to each other in French, even though my mother is a native English speaker.

Stroke order for each character

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

对 duì · right · 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

话 huà · dialect · 8 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8

Related words

Words that share a character with 对话.

对不起duìbuqǐI'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint
电话diànhuàtelephone; phone call
说话shuōhuàto speak; to say
打电话dǎ diànhuàto make a telephone call
不对bùduìincorrect; wrong
的话dehuàif (coming after a conditional clause)
讲话jiǎnghuàa speech; to speak
笑话xiàohuajoke; jest; to laugh at; to mock
对面duìmiànopposite; across (the street etc); directly in front of one; up ahead
普通话pǔtōnghuàPutonghua; standard Mandarin
笑话儿xiàohuarerhua form of 笑話|笑话[xiao4 hua5]
绝对juéduìabsolute; unconditional

Questions about 对话

What does 对话 mean?

对话 (duìhuà) means "to talk (with sb); dialogue; conversation" and is used as a verb and noun.

How do you write 对话?

对话 is made of 2 characters: 对 (5 strokes), 话 (8 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.

Is 对话 an HSK word?

Yes. 对话 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 对话 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 对话 is written 對話.

What is the difference between 对话 and 聊天?

聊天 (liáotiān) is relaxed chatting with friends. 对话 is more neutral or formal and is used for textbook dialogues, interviews, or talks between groups or countries, such as 两国对话 (talks between two countries).

What measure word goes with 对话?

The most common measure word is 段 (duàn), as in 一段对话 (a dialogue). You may also see 次 (cì) when counting how many times talks happened, as in 一次对话.

满Previous in HSK 2mǎn