说 meaning in English
to speak; to talk; to say; to explain; to comment
Meaning of 说
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to speak; to talk; to say
- to explain; to comment
- to scold; to tell off
- (bound form) theory; doctrine
- variant of 說|说[shuo1]
- to persuade
How to use 说
说 (shuō) is the everyday verb for saying or speaking, and it often takes what is said or a language as its object. Use 说 + language for speaking a language: 我会说中文。(Wǒ huì shuō Zhōngwén.) I can speak Chinese.
The left side 讠 is the speech radical, a simplified form of 言 (yán, words). Picture words coming out on the left while the right side 兑 (duì) shows a person with a mouth wide open, talking.
Common mistake: Learners often say 说 when they mean "tell someone" and put the person right after it. 说他 means "scold him", so use 告诉 (gàosu) or 跟他说 (gēn tā shuō) instead. Also do not confuse 说 with 话 (huà): 说 is the verb, 话 is the noun "words, speech", as in 说话.
说 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.
说 shuō · to speak · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 说.
| 说话 | shuōhuà | to speak; to say |
| 听说 | tīngshuō | to hear (sth said); one hears (that) |
| 说明 | shuōmíng | to explain; to illustrate |
| 小说 | xiǎoshuō | novel; fiction |
| 比如说 | bǐrú shuō | for example |
| 传说 | chuánshuō | legend; folk tale; to repeat from mouth to mouth; they say that... |
| 据说 | jùshuō | it is said that; reportedly |
| 说服 | shuōfú | to persuade; to convince |
| 说不定 | shuōbudìng | can't say for sure; maybe |
| 一般来说 | yībānláishuō | generally speaking |
| 说法 | shuōfǎ | to expound Buddhist teachings |
| 再说 | zàishuō | to say again; to put off a discussion until later |
Questions about 说
What does 说 mean?
说 (shuō) means "to speak; to talk; to say; to explain; to comment" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 说?
说 is made of 1 character: 说 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 说 an HSK word?
Yes. 说 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 说 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 说 is written 說.
What is the difference between 说 and 讲 (jiǎng)?
Both mean to speak or say, and in many cases they are interchangeable, like 说中文 and 讲中文. 讲 is more common in southern China and also means to explain or lecture, as in 讲课 (jiǎngkè).
When is 说 pronounced shuì?
It is read shuì only in the literary sense "to persuade", mainly in the word 游说 (yóushuì), to lobby. In everyday speech it is almost always shuō.