电话 meaning in English

diànhuà

telephone; phone call

HSK 1nounTraditional 電話13 strokes

Meaning of 电话

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

diànhuà

telephone
phone call
phone number

Measure word: 部

How to use 电话

电话 can mean the phone itself, a phone call, or a phone number. The most common verb with it is 打 (dǎ), as in 打电话 (dǎ diànhuà), to make a call. Example: 我给妈妈打电话。(Wǒ gěi māma dǎ diànhuà.) I am calling my mom.

电话 is literally "electric speech": 电 (diàn) means electricity and 话 (huà) means words or speech. A phone sends your words through electricity.

Common mistake: Learners often say 叫电话 or 做电话 for "make a call", but the correct verb is 打 (dǎ). Also note the word order: 给 + person comes before 打电话, so say 我给他打电话, not 我打电话他.

电话 in example sentences

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

我wǒ们men能néng在zài哪nǎ里lǐ打dǎ电diàn话huà？

Where can we make a phone call?

他tā一yī坐zuò下xià，就jiù拿ná起qǐ了le电diàn话huà。

As soon as he sat down, he picked up the telephone.

你nǐ的de电diàn话huà出chū问wèn题tí了le吗ma？

Is there something wrong with your phone?

我wǒ今jīn早zǎo给gěi他tā打dǎ过guò电diàn话huà。

I called him this morning.

今jīn天tiān早zǎo上shàng我wǒ接jiē到dào她tā的de一yí个gè电diàn话huà。

I got a call from her this morning.

Stroke order for each character

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

电 diàn · lightning · 5 strokes

话 huà · dialect · 8 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 电话.

说话	shuōhuà	to speak; to say
打电话	dǎ diànhuà	to make a telephone call
电影	diànyǐng	movie; film
电视	diànshì	television; TV
电脑	diànnǎo	computer
电影院	diànyǐngyuàn	cinema; movie theater
电视机	diànshìjī	television set
的话	dehuà	if (coming after a conditional clause)
讲话	jiǎnghuà	a speech; to speak
笑话	xiàohua	joke; jest; to laugh at; to mock
对话	duìhuà	to talk (with sb); dialogue; conversation
普通话	pǔtōnghuà	Putonghua; standard Mandarin

Questions about 电话

What does 电话 mean?

电话 (diànhuà) means "telephone; phone call" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 电话?

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

Is 电话 an HSK word?

Yes. 电话 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 电话 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 电话 is written 電話.

How do I ask for someone's phone number in Chinese?

Say 你的电话是多少？(Nǐ de diànhuà shì duōshao?) What is your phone number? You can also say 电话号码 (diànhuà hàomǎ) for "phone number" to be more precise.

Is 电话 used for mobile phones too?

Yes, 电话 works for any phone call or number. For the mobile device itself, people usually say 手机 (shǒujī), so "my phone" as an object is often 我的手机.