Chinese characters
Characters, words, and simplified against traditional.
Chinese is written in characters, 汉字 hànzì. Each character is said as one syllable, and most also carry a meaning of their own. A word is one character or several; most everyday words have two.
Words from characters
Two-character words often build their meaning from their parts, which makes them easy to remember once you know the characters.
| Word | Parts | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 中国 Zhōngguó | 中 middle + 国 country | China |
| 电脑 diànnǎo | 电 electricity + 脑 brain | computer |
| 火车 huǒchē | 火 fire + 车 vehicle | train |
| 手机 shǒujī | 手 hand + 机 machine | mobile phone |
| 飞机 fēijī | 飞 fly + 机 machine | airplane |
| 学生 xuésheng | 学 study + 生 born, life | student |
No spaces between words
Chinese leaves no spaces between words. Only punctuation breaks the run of characters, and readers find where each word ends as they go. In this app, every word of an example sentence links to its dictionary entry, so you can see how a sentence divides.
- Wǒ shì xuésheng.I'm a student.
- Wǒmen qù Běijīng.We're going to Beijing.
Simplified and traditional
Mainland China and Singapore write simplified characters, 简体字 jiǎntǐzì, introduced in the 1950s and 60s with fewer strokes. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau keep the traditional characters, 繁体字 fántǐzì. Many characters are the same in both. vocab dash teaches simplified characters; the dictionary lists the traditional spelling too, and finds a word searched for in either.
| Simplified | Traditional | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 书 | 書 | shū | book |
| 马 | 馬 | mǎ | horse |
| 门 | 門 | mén | door |
| 说 | 說 | shuō | speak |
| 学 | 學 | xué | study |
| 国 | 國 | guó | country |
| 人 | 人 | rén | person |
How many characters
There are tens of thousands of characters, but most are rare. About 2,500 common ones cover around 98% of everyday text. Learning words, not characters on their own, brings the characters with them.
Pinyin
Pinyin, 拼音 pīnyīn, spells the sounds of Mandarin in Latin letters, with marks for the tones. Dictionaries, textbooks and signs for visitors use it, and most people type Chinese by typing pinyin and picking the character from a list. It doesn't replace characters in ordinary writing. See Pinyin and Tones.
Punctuation
Chinese punctuation takes the space of a full character. The full stop is a small circle, 。, and lists use a separate comma, 、, between their items. Titles of books and films go in 《》.
| Mark | Name | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 。 | 句号 jùhào | full stop |
| ， | 逗号 dòuhào | comma between clauses |
| 、 | 顿号 dùnhào | comma between items of a list |
| “ ” | 引号 yǐnhào | quotation marks |
| 《 》 | 书名号 shūmínghào | titles of books and films |
- Wǒ mǎile píngguǒ, xiāngjiāo hé chéngzi.I bought apples, bananas and oranges.
Cards from this guide
8 cardsEach card asks about one thing this guide teaches, and its back gives the answer with why and an example. They're reviewed with the rest of the Getting started cards.
How many syllables is one Chinese character said as?
One.
What do the two characters of 电脑 (computer) mean on their own?
电 "electricity" and 脑 "brain".
Where does written Chinese put spaces between words?
Nowhere: characters run on without spaces.
Which characters are used in mainland China: simplified or traditional?
Simplified, 简体字 (jiǎntǐzì).
What is the comma 、 used for?
Between the items of a list.
How do most people type Chinese characters?
By typing pinyin and picking the character from a list.
About how many common characters cover 98% of everyday text?
About 2,500.
What goes inside 《》?
The title of a book or film.