通话 meaning in English
to hold a conversation; to talk over the telephone
Meaning of 通话
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to hold a conversation
- to talk over the telephone
- phone call
How to use 通话
通话 is more formal than 打电话 (dǎ diànhuà). You often see it on phone screens, in customer service, and in news, for example 通话时间 (call duration) or 正在通话中 (the line is busy). Example: 他们昨天通话了半个小时。(Tāmen zuótiān tōnghuà le bàn ge xiǎoshí.) They talked on the phone for half an hour yesterday.
通 (tōng) means to get through or connect, and 话 (huà) means speech. When a call connects, your words get through to the other person, so 通话 is a phone call.
Common mistake: Learners say 我通话你 to mean "I'll call you," but 通话 does not take a direct object. Use 我给你打电话 (wǒ gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà) or 我和你通话 instead.
通话 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.
通 tōng · to go through · 10 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
话 huà · dialect · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 通话.
| 电话 | diànhuà | telephone; phone call |
| 说话 | shuōhuà | to speak; to say |
| 打电话 | dǎ diànhuà | to make a telephone call |
| 的话 | dehuà | if (coming after a conditional clause) |
| 通过 | tōngguò | to pass through; to get through; to adopt (a resolution); to pass (legislation) |
| 通知 | tōngzhī | to notify; to inform |
| 普通 | pǔtōng | common; ordinary |
| 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 |
| 交通 | jiāotōng | to be connected; traffic |
| 普通话 | pǔtōnghuà | Putonghua; standard Mandarin |
Questions about 通话
What does 通话 mean?
通话 (tōnghuà) means "to hold a conversation; to talk over the telephone".
How do you write 通话?
通话 is made of 2 characters: 通 (10 strokes), 话 (8 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 通话 an HSK word?
Yes. 通话 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 通话 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 通话 is written 通話.
Is 通话 only used for phone calls?
Mostly yes in modern use, including video and internet calls such as 视频通话 (shìpín tōnghuà, video call). The older sense of simply holding a conversation still appears in formal writing, for example between two leaders.
What is the difference between 通话 and 电话?
电话 (diànhuà) is the phone itself or a call as a thing you make or receive, as in 接电话 (to answer the phone). 通话 focuses on the act of talking while connected, so it suits phrases like 通话记录 (call log).