HSK 6 · Ideas

潜力 qiánlì “potential” in Chinese

Traditional 潛力

What 潜力 means

  1. potential
  2. latent capacity

How to say 潜力

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale潜qián2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale力lì4th tone, falling

潜力 in a sentence

  1. 他有极大的潜力。

    Tā yǒu jídà de qiánlì.

    He has enormous potential.

    Sentence #805205 from Tatoeba

  2. 她充满潜力。

    Tā chōngmǎn qiánlì.

    She is full of potential.

    Sentence #4083588 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 有领导潜力吗?

    Yǒu lǐngdǎo qiánlì ma?

    Do you have leadership potential?

    Sentence #13201817 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 潜力 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 潜 (qián) with each of its parts in a different colour
潜qiánhidden
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 替to change · tìSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 替 (tì) hints at the sound. Compare it with qián.

The character 力 (lì) drawn as one shape
力lìpower

力 is a single shape of 2 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidThought to show an old plough, and pulling it took strength: strength, power.

How to write 潜力

潜 15 strokes · 力 2 strokes

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

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

Words related to 潜力

Words with 潜

Words with 力

More words: Ideas & Concepts

FAQs

潜力 (qiánlì) means “potential” or “latent capacity”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it qiánlì: qián with a 2nd tone, then lì with a 4th tone. 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, 潜力 is written 潛力. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qianli with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 潜力 from the suggestions. Typing qianli into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
潜力 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.