HSK 3.0 Level 4 · Everyday Verbs

定 dìng “to decide” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 定 means

  1. to decide
  2. to set
  3. to book
  4. to fix
  5. to make definite
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to subscribe to (a newspaper etc)
  • to book (tickets etc)
  • to order (goods etc)
  • to congeal
  • to coagulate

How to say 定

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale定dìng4th tone, falling

定 in a sentence

  1. 好，定了。

    Hǎo, dìng le.

    All right, it’s settled.

    Sentence #394996 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他们决定结束讨论。

    Tāmen juédìng jiéshù tǎolùn.

    They decided to end the discussion.

    Sentence #9922154 from Tatoeba

How 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 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 定

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.

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

Words related to 定

Words with 定

一定yídìng · surely决定juédìng · decide肯定kěndìng · to be certain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: Everyday Verbs

开机kāijī · to switch on (a device)无法wúfǎ · to be unable to管guǎn · to manage活huó · to live按àn · to press入rù · to enter约yuē · to arrange to meet加入jiārù · to join

FAQs

定 (dìng) means “to decide” or “to set”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word.
Say it dìng: dìng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 定 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ding with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 定 from the suggestions. Typing ding into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
定 is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 6 word list. It is not on the older 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.