HSK 5 · Verbs

参考 cānkǎo “to consult” in Chinese

Traditional 參考

What 参考 means

  1. to consult
  2. to refer to
  3. reference
  4. consultation
  5. to refer

How to say 参考

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale参cān1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale考kǎo3rd tone, dipping

参考 in a sentence

  1. 佩蓉，你那份报告可以借我参考一下吗？

    Pèiróng, nǐ nà fèn bàogào kěyǐ jiè wǒ cānkǎo yíxià ma?

    Peirong, could I borrow your report for reference?

    Sentence #13523777 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 在英国的时候，我经常看参考书。

    Zài Yīngguó de shíhou, wǒ jīngcháng kàn cānkǎoshū.

    When I was in England, I often consulted reference books.

    Sentence #332428 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我会将这则资讯记下来，以便未来参考。

    Wǒ huì jiāng zhè zé zīxùn jì xiàlai, yǐbiàn wèilái cānkǎo.

    I’ll note this information down for future reference.

    Sentence #13151233 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 参考 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 参 (cān) with each of its parts in a different colour
参cānto take part in
  • 厶private · sī
  • 大big · dà
  • 彡bristle · shānSound part
The character 考 (kǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
考kǎoto beat
  • 耂old form of 老 · lǎoMeaning part
  • 丂part of the characterSound part

Memory aid考 and 老 share the top 耂 and once both meant “old”. Today 考 means to test.

How to write 参考

参 8 strokes · 考 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 参考

Words with 参

参加cānjiā · participate参观cānguān · to look around参与cānyù · to take part (in)参谋cānmóu · adviser参照cānzhào · to refer to

Words with 考

考kǎo · to take an exam考试kǎoshì · exam考虑kǎolǜ · to think over思考sīkǎo · to reflect on考察kǎochá · to investigate考古kǎogǔ · archaeology考核kǎohé · to assess考验kǎoyàn · to test

More words: Thinking & Talking

保留bǎoliú · to keep抱怨bàoyuàn · to complain辩论biànlùn · debate表达biǎodá · to express吵架chǎojià · to quarrel称chēng · to call称呼chēnghu · to call称赞chēngzàn · to praise

FAQs

参考 (cānkǎo) means “to consult” or “to refer to”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it cānkǎo: cān with a 1st tone, then kǎo with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 参考 is written 參考. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type cankao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 参考 from the suggestions. Typing cankao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
参考 is an HSK 5 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.