HSK 6 · Verbs

思索 sīsuǒ “to ponder” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 思索 means

  1. to ponder
  2. to think deeply

How to say 思索

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale思sī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale索suǒ3rd tone, dipping

思索 in a sentence

  1. 汤姆不假思索脱口而出。

    Tāngmǔ bùjiǎsīsuǒ tuōkǒu'érchū.

    Tom blurted it out without thinking.

    Sentence #5613724 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 思索 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 思 (sī) with each of its parts in a different colour
思sīto think
  • 田field · tián
  • 心heart · xīn

Memory aidA head 田 (once a drawing of the skull) above the heart 心: to think.

The character 索 (suǒ) with each of its parts in a different colour
索suǒto search
  • 十ten · shí
  • 冖cover · mì
  • 糸silk · mì

How to write 思索

思 9 strokes · 索 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 思索

Words with 思

意思yìsi · meaning没意思méiyìsi · boring有意思yǒuyìsi · interesting不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed思考sīkǎo · to reflect on思想sīxiǎng · thought沉思chénsī · to ponder反思fǎnsī · to reflect on构思gòusī · to conceive (an idea or plot)思念sīniàn · to miss

Words with 索

搜索sōusuǒ · to search (online)索取suǒqǔ · to ask for探索tànsuǒ · to explore摸索mōsuǒ · to grope线索xiànsuǒ · clue索性suǒxìng · might as well

More words: Thinking & Talking

设想shèxiǎng · to imagine识别shíbié · to identify示意shìyì · to signal疏忽shūhu · to neglect算数suànshù · to count (be valid)索取suǒqǔ · to ask for探索tànsuǒ · to explore探讨tàntǎo · to discuss

FAQs

思索 (sīsuǒ) means “to ponder” or “to think deeply”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it sīsuǒ: sī with a 1st tone, then suǒ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 思索 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type sisuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 思索 from the suggestions. Typing sisuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
思索 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.