HSK 5 · Verbs

演讲 yǎnjiǎng “speech” in Chinese

Said as yánjiǎng

Traditional 演講

What 演讲 means

  1. speech
  2. to give a speech
  3. to give a lecture
  4. to make a speech

How to say 演讲

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale演yǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale讲jiǎng3rd tone, dipping

Said as yánjiǎng. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

演讲 in a sentence

  1. 我没有抓到他演讲的重点。

    Wǒ méiyǒu zhuā dào tā yǎnjiǎng de zhòngdiǎn.

    I didn’t catch the main point of his speech.

    Sentence #336109 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 您没必要准备一个正式的演讲。

    Nín méi bìyào zhǔnbèi yí ge zhèngshì de yǎnjiǎng.

    You don’t need to prepare a formal speech.

    Sentence #472843 from Tatoeba

  3. 当年我在学校的时候经常参加英语演讲比赛。

    Dāngnián wǒ zài xuéxiào de shíhou jīngcháng cānjiā Yīngyǔ yǎnjiǎng bǐsài.

    Back when I was at school, I often took part in English speech contests.

    Sentence #1990254 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 演讲 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 演 (yǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
演yǎnto perform; to stage
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 寅part of the characterSound part
The character 讲 (jiǎng) with each of its parts in a different colour
讲jiǎngto speak
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 井well · jǐngSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 井 (jǐng) hints at the sound. Compare it with jiǎng.

How to write 演讲

演 14 strokes · 讲 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 演讲

Words with 演

演出yǎnchū · to act (in a play)演员yǎnyuán · actor or actress表演biǎoyǎn · to perform导演dǎoyǎn · director (of a film or play)演绎yǎnyì · to deduce演习yǎnxí · military exercise扮演bànyǎn · to play the role of演奏yǎnzòu · to perform (on an instrument)演变yǎnbiàn · to evolve

Words with 讲

讲jiǎng · to talk讲究jiǎngjiu · to be particular about讲座jiǎngzuò · lecture

More words: Thinking & Talking

叙述xùshù · to relate (a story or information)宣布xuānbù · to declare宣传xuānchuán · to publicise询问xúnwèn · to inquire疑问yíwèn · question议论yìlùn · to comment犹豫yóuyù · to hesitate赞成zànchéng · to approve

FAQs

演讲 (yǎnjiǎng) means “speech” or “to give a speech”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it yǎnjiǎng: yǎn with a 3rd tone, then jiǎng with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like yánjiǎng. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. 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, 演讲 is written 演講. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yanjiang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 演讲 from the suggestions. Typing yanjiang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
演讲 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.