Browse Words — Learn Chinese Through Stories

Every character has an origin. Discover the pictographs, myths, and history behind each Chinese character — with pinyin, stroke order, HSK level, and audio pronunciation.

电池

diàn chí

'电池' (diàn chí) literally means 'electric pool

电影

diàn yǐng

‘电影’ literally means ‘electric shadow’—a hi

电视

diàn shì

电视 (diàn shì) literally means 'electric vision

电脑

diàn nǎo

‘Diànnǎo’ literally means ‘electric brain’

电话

diàn huà

'电话' literally means 'electric speech'—'电' (di

科学家

kē xué jiā

‘科学家’ (kē xué jiā) literally means ‘scien

作家

zuò jiā

作家 (zuò jiā) literally combines 作 (zuò), mea

家长

jiā zhǎng

家长 (jiā zhǎng) literally combines 家 (jiā, 'h

家乡

jiā xiāng

家乡 (jiā xiāng) literally combines 家 (jiā), m

家人

jiā rén

家人 (jiā rén) literally combines 家 (jiā), mea

三岁

sān suì

‘三岁’ literally combines the numeral ‘三’ (s

三天

sān tiān

Three days (sān tiān) is a compound noun formed

三明治

sān míng zhì

'Sān míng zhì' is a phonetic loanword from Engl

三人行

sān rén xíng

'Three people walk together' is a classical Chines

三月

sān yuè

‘三月’ literally means ‘three month’ and is th

三角形

sān jiǎo xíng

三角形 (sān jiǎo xíng) literally means 'three-c

数十

shù shí

数十 (shù shí) is a numeral phrase meaning 'doze

十全十美

shí quán shí měi

'Shí quán shí měi' literally means 'ten comple

十月

shí yuè

十月 literally means 'ten month' and is the standa

十几

shí jǐ

‘十几’ is a Chinese numeral expression meaning '

十岁

shí suì

‘十岁’ literally means ‘ten years’ and is used

十分

shí fēn

十分 (shí fēn) is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'e

学期

xué qī

学期 (xué qī) literally combines 学 (xué), mean

学者

xué zhě

学者 (xué zhě) is a formal noun meaning 'scholar

学问

xué wen

‘学问’ (xué wèn) is a formal, literary noun me

学习

xué xí

学习 (xué xí) is a verb meaning 'to study' or 't

学校

xué xiào

学校 (xué xiào) literally means 'study instituti

多谢

duō xiè

‘多谢’ is a polite, warm expression meaning 'man