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特色 meaning in English

tèsè

a characteristic; a distinctive feature or quality

HSK 3noun16 strokes

Meaning of 特色

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

tèsè
  1. a characteristic; a distinctive feature or quality

How to use 特色

特色 is a noun for the distinctive feature of a place, food, product, or style. It also works before a noun to mean signature or specialty, as in 特色菜 (tèsècài, signature dish). Example: 这家饭馆很有特色。(Zhè jiā fànguǎn hěn yǒu tèsè.) This restaurant has a lot of character.

特 (tè) is the 特 in 特别 (tèbié), meaning special. 色 (sè) is the 色 in 颜色 (yánsè), meaning color. A 特色 is the special color of something, the thing that makes it stand out.

Common mistake: Learners often say 很特色, but 特色 is a noun, so you need 很有特色 (hěn yǒu tèsè). If you want the adjective "special," use 特别 (tèbié) instead.

特色 in example sentences

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

日rì本běn有yǒu许xǔ多duō别bié具jù一yī格gé的de特tè色sè。
Japan has many distinctive traits.
这zhè里lǐ的de特tè色sè菜cài是shì什shén么me？
What is the specialty food here?
你nǐ们men这zhè儿ér什shén么me菜cài最zuì有yǒu特tè色sè？
What's your most special dish?
所suǒ谓wèi的de＂男nán性xìng特tè色sè教jiào育yù学xué＂根gēn本běn就jiù不bù存cún在zài。
There is no "masculine" way of learning.
由yóu于yú它tā的de起qǐ源yuán，加jiā拿ná大dà英yīng语yǔ具jù有yǒu美měi国guó英yīng语yǔ和hé​​英yīng国guó英yīng语yǔ两liǎng者zhě的de特tè色sè。
Because of its origins, Canadian English has features of both American and British English.

Stroke order for each character

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

特 tè · special · 10 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
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  10. 10

色 sè · color · 6 strokes

  1. 1
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  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

Related words

Words that share a character with 特色.

特别tèbiéunusual; special; very; especially; particularly
颜色yánsècolor; countenance
红色hóngsèred (color); revolutionary
黑色hēisèblack
蓝色lánsèblue (color)
白色báisèwhite; fig. reactionary
绿色lǜsègreen
黄色huángsèyellow; vulgar; lewd; pornographic
特点tèdiǎncharacteristic; trait; feature
景色jǐngsèscenery; landscape; view
彩色cǎisècolor; multicolored
角色juésèrole; part (in a play or movie etc); also pr. [jiao3se4]

Questions about 特色

What does 特色 mean?

特色 (tèsè) means "a characteristic; a distinctive feature or quality" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 特色?

特色 is made of 2 characters: 特 (10 strokes), 色 (6 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.

Is 特色 an HSK word?

Yes. 特色 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 特色 and 特点 (tèdiǎn)?

特点 is a neutral word for any feature or trait, good or bad. 特色 usually suggests a distinctive and appealing quality that makes something unique, so it is common in tourism and food descriptions.

Does 色 in 特色 still mean color?

Not literally. Here 色 has the extended sense of look or quality, so 特色 means a distinctive character, not a special color.

结实Previous in HSK 3jiēshi