HSK 6 · Verbs

示意 shìyì “to signal” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 示意 means

  1. to signal
  2. to gesture
  3. to hint
  4. to indicate (an idea to sb)

How to say 示意

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale示shì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale意yì4th tone, falling

示意 in a sentence

  1. 父亲示意我离开房间。

    Fùqīn shìyì wǒ líkāi fángjiān.

    Father gestured to me to leave the room.

    Sentence #1074525 from Tatoeba

  2. 助理裁判向主裁判举旗示意比赛继续。

    Zhùlǐ cáipàn xiàng zhǔcáipàn jǔ qí shìyì bǐsài jìxù.

    The assistant referee raised his flag to signal that play should continue.

    Sentence #3579499 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 裁判根据有利原则，举起手示意继续进攻。

    Cáipàn gēnjù yǒulì yuánzé, jǔqǐ shǒu shìyì jìxù jìngōng.

    Playing advantage, the referee raised his hand to signal that the attack should continue.

    Sentence #3579600 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 示意 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 示 (shì) with each of its parts in a different colour
示shìto show
  • 二two · èr
  • 小small · xiǎo
The character 意 (yì) with each of its parts in a different colour
意yìidea; thought; meaning; sense
  • 音sound · yīnSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 音 (yīn) hints at the sound. Compare it with yì.

Memory aidA sound 音 from the heart 心: a thought, a meaning.

How to write 示意

示 5 strokes · 意 13 strokes

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

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

Words related to 示意

Words with 示

表示biǎoshì · to express出示chūshì · to show显示xiǎnshì · to show暗示ànshì · to hint提示tíshì · to prompt指示zhǐshì · to instruct展示zhǎnshì · to display示范shìfàn · to demonstrate请示qǐngshì · to ask for instructions示威shìwēi · to hold a demonstration

Words with 意

意思yìsi · meaning没意思méiyìsi · boring有意思yǒuyìsi · interesting不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed同意tóngyì · agree愿意yuànyì · be willing注意zhùyì · pay attention to满意mǎnyì · satisfied意见yìjiàn · idea得意déyì · proud of oneself

More words: Thinking & Talking

撒谎sāhuǎng · to lie擅长shàncháng · to be good at设想shèxiǎng · to imagine识别shíbié · to identify疏忽shūhu · to neglect思索sīsuǒ · to ponder算数suànshù · to count (be valid)索取suǒqǔ · to ask for

FAQs

示意 (shìyì) means “to signal” or “to gesture”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it shìyì: shì with a 4th tone, then yì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 示意 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shiyi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 示意 from the suggestions. Typing shiyi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
示意 is an HSK 6 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.