HSK 4 · Verbs

肯定 kěndìng “to be certain” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 肯定 means

  1. to be certain
  2. to be positive
  3. assuredly
  4. definitely
  5. to give recognition
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to affirm
  • affirmative (answer)

How to say 肯定

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale肯kěn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale定dìng4th tone, falling

肯定 in a sentence

  1. 我肯定你会成功。

    Wǒ kěndìng nǐ huì chénggōng.

    I’m sure you’ll succeed.

    Sentence #1328174 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 她可能是护士。我不太肯定。

    Tā kěnéng shì hùshi. Wǒ bú tài kěndìng.

    She might be a nurse. I’m not too sure.

    Sentence #408467 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 明天肯定会下雨。

    Míngtiān kěndìng huì xiàyǔ.

    It’s definitely going to rain tomorrow.

    Sentence #792846 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 肯定 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 肯 (kěn) with each of its parts in a different colour
肯kěnto agree; to consent
  • 止stop · zhǐ
  • ⺼meat form of 肉 · ròu
The character 定 (dìng) with each of its parts in a different colour
定dìngto fix; to set; to make definite
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 疋roll of cloth · pǐ

Memory aidA roof 宀 over 正 “upright”, squashed at the bottom so it looks like 疋: settled, fixed.

How to write 肯定

肯 8 strokes · 定 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

肯定 (kěndìng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 肯定 (kěndìng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 肯定

Words with 肯

宁肯nìngkěn · would rather

Words with 定

一定yídìng · surely决定juédìng · decide定dìng · to decide规定guīdìng · to stipulate否定fǒudìng · to negate确定quèdìng · to confirm固定gùdìng · to fix制定zhìdìng · to draw up稳定wěndìng · steady说不定shuōbudìng · can’t say for sure

More words: Common Verbs

究竟jiūjìng · to go to the bottom of a matter举jǔ · to lift举办jǔbàn · to conduct开玩笑kāiwánxiào · to play a joke困kùn · to trap拉lā · to pull来不及láibují · not enough time (to do something)来得及láidejí · to have enough time

FAQs

肯定 (kěndìng) means “to be certain” or “to be positive”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it kěndìng: kěn with a 3rd tone, then dìng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 肯定 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kending with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 肯定 from the suggestions. Typing kending into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
肯定 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.