水平 meaning in English
horizontal; level; a standard; a level (of ability, development etc)
Meaning of 水平
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- horizontal; level
- a standard; a level (of ability, development etc)
How to use 水平
In everyday Chinese 水平 most often describes someone's level of skill or the standard of something, like language ability or living standards. Example: 他的中文水平很高。(Tā de Zhōngwén shuǐpíng hěn gāo.) His Chinese level is very high.
水 (shuǐ) means water and 平 (píng) means flat or level. Still water always settles perfectly flat, so 水平 first means horizontal, and from there it means a level or standard.
Common mistake: Learners often say 水平很好 when Chinese speakers usually describe 水平 as 高 (gāo) high or 低 (dī) low, as in 水平很高. Also keep the second tone on 平 (píng) and do not read it as 评 (píng, to comment), which sounds the same but has the speech radical 讠.
水平 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.
水 shuǐ · water · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
平 píng · flat · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 水平.
| 水果 | shuǐguǒ | fruit |
| 公平 | gōngpíng | fair; impartial |
| 平常 | píngcháng | ordinary; common |
| 平时 | píngshí | ordinarily; in normal times |
| 平安 | píng'ān | safe and sound; well |
| 平等 | píngděng | equal; equality |
| 药水 | yàoshuǐ | medicine in liquid form; bottled medicine |
| 一路平安 | yīlù-píng'ān | to have a pleasant journey; Bon voyage! |
| 和平 | hépíng | peace; peaceful |
| 凉水 | liángshuǐ | cool water; unboiled water |
| 平静 | píngjìng | calm; tranquil; serene |
| 海水 | hǎishuǐ | seawater |
Questions about 水平
What does 水平 mean?
水平 (shuǐpíng) means "horizontal; level; a standard; a level (of ability, development etc)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 水平?
水平 is made of 2 characters: 水 (4 strokes), 平 (5 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 水平 an HSK word?
Yes. 水平 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 水平 and 水准?
Both can mean standard or level. 水平 is far more common in daily speech, while 水准 (shuǐzhǔn) sounds more formal and often refers to the quality standard of work or performance.
Can 水平 mean horizontal in modern Chinese?
Yes. It is used in technical or descriptive contexts, for example 水平线 (shuǐpíngxiàn) horizontal line or 保持水平 (bǎochí shuǐpíng) keep it level. In casual conversation, though, the ability or standard meaning is much more frequent.