HSK 6 · Emotions

爱不释手 àibúshìshǒu “to love something too much to put it down” in Chinese

Traditional 愛不釋手

What 爱不释手 means

  1. to love something too much to put it down
  2. (idiom) to like sth so much that one is reluctant to put it down
  3. to find sth utterly irresistible

How to say 爱不释手

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale爱ài4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale不bú2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale释shì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale手shǒu3rd tone, dipping

Tone change. 不 is bù on its own. Before a fourth tone it changes to bú, and textbooks write that change in, as here. How tone changes work

爱不释手 in a sentence

  1. 她对这本书爱不释手。

    Tā duì zhè běn shū àibúshìshǒu.

    She loves this book so much she can’t put it down.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 孩子拿到新玩具，爱不释手。

    Háizi nádào xīn wánjù, àibúshìshǒu.

    The child got a new toy and won’t let go of it.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 爱不释手 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 爱 (ài) with each of its parts in a different colour
爱àito love; to be fond of; to like
  • 爫claw form of 爪 · zhǎo
  • 冖cover · mì
  • 友friend · yǒu

Memory aidA hand 爫 bringing a friend 友 under a cover 冖: love.

The character 不 (bù) drawn as one shape
不bùno; not sobú in 爱不释手

不 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidPicture a bar 一 across the top that nothing below can get past: not, no.

The character 释 (shì) drawn as one shape
释shìto explain

释 is a single shape of 12 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

The character 手 (shǒu) drawn as one shape
手shǒuhand

手 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a hand with its fingers spread. On the left of a character it is written 扌.

How to write 爱不释手

爱 10 strokes · 不 4 strokes · 释 12 strokes · 手 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 爱不释手

Words with 爱

爱ài · to love可爱kě'ài · cute爱好àihào · hobby爱人àiren · husband or wife喜爱xǐ'ài · to like爱情àiqíng · romance恋爱liàn'ài · romantic love爱护àihù · to cherish爱惜àixī · to cherish亲爱qīn'ài · dear

Words with 不

不bù · no不要bùyào · don’t!不客气bú kèqi · you’re welcome对不起duìbuqǐ · sorry不错bùcuò · not bad不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed不但búdàn · not only不同bùtóng · different不少bùshǎo · quite a few不见bújiàn · to be missing

Words with 释

解释jiěshì · explanation注释zhùshì · annotation释放shìfàng · to release

Words with 手

手shǒu · hand手表shǒubiǎo · watch手机shǒujī · mobile phone洗手间xǐshǒujiān · toilet分手fēnshǒu · to break up手术shǒushù · (surgical) operation手指shǒuzhǐ · finger手套shǒutào · glove对手duìshǒu · opponent握手wòshǒu · to shake hands

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

运气yùnqi · luck (good or bad)在乎zàihu · to care about珍惜zhēnxī · to treasure自豪zìháo · proud (of an achievement)爱戴àidài · to love and respect巴不得bābudé · to be eager to抱负bàofù · aspiration悲哀bēi'āi · sorrowful

FAQs

爱不释手 (àibúshìshǒu) means “to love something too much to put it down” or “(idiom) to like sth so much that one is reluctant to put it down”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it àibúshìshǒu: ài with a 4th tone, then bú with a 2nd tone, then shì with a 4th tone, then shǒu with a 3rd tone. 不 is bù on its own. Before a fourth tone it changes to bú, and textbooks write that change in, as here. 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, 爱不释手 is written 愛不釋手. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type aibushishou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 爱不释手 from the suggestions. Typing aibushishou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
爱不释手 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.