HSK 6 · Nature

波涛 bōtāo “great waves” in Chinese

Traditional 波濤

What 波涛 means

  1. great waves
  2. billows
  3. surging waves

How to say 波涛

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale波bō1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale涛tāo1st tone, high and level

波涛 in a sentence

  1. 大海上波涛汹涌。

    Dàhǎi shàng bōtāo xiōngyǒng.

    The sea was heaving with great waves.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 小船在波涛中摇来摇去。

    Xiǎochuán zài bōtāo zhōng yáo lái yáo qù.

    The little boat was tossed about by the waves.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 波涛 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 波 (bō) with each of its parts in a different colour
波bōwave
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 皮skin · píSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 皮 (pí) hints at the sound. Compare it with bō.

The character 涛 (tāo) with each of its parts in a different colour
涛tāobig wave
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 寿old age · shòuSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 寿 (shòu) hints at the sound. Compare it with tāo.

How to write 波涛

波 8 strokes · 涛 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 波涛

Words with 波

奔波bēnbō · to rush about波浪bōlàng · wave

More words: Nature & Environment

斑bān · spot贝壳bèiké · shell冰雹bīngbáo · hail波浪bōlàng · wave播种bōzhǒng · to sow seeds巢穴cháoxué · nest炊烟chuīyān · smoke from cooking fires雌雄cíxióng · male and female

FAQs

波涛 (bōtāo) means “great waves” or “billows”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it bōtāo: bō with a 1st tone, then tāo with a 1st 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, 波涛 is written 波濤. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type botao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 波涛 from the suggestions. Typing botao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
波涛 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.