HSK 3 · Verbs

了解 liǎojiě “comprehend” in Chinese

Said as liáojiě

Same in Traditional

What 了解 means

  1. comprehend
  2. understand
  3. know
  4. find out
  5. to know about
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to learn about

How to say 了解

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale了liǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale解jiě3rd tone, dipping

Said as liáojiě. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

了解 in a sentence

  1. 你了解艺术吗？

    Nǐ liǎojiě yìshù ma?

    Do you know anything about art?

    Sentence #13889022 from Tatoeba

  2. 我想多了解她。

    Wǒ xiǎng duō liǎojiě tā.

    I want to know more about her.

    Sentence #14014434 from Tatoeba

  3. 我希望了解您的国家。

    Wǒ xīwàng liǎojiě nín de guójiā.

    I would like to understand your home country.

    Sentence #4263779 from Tatoeba

How 了解 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 了 (liǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
了liǎoto finish
  • 乛part of the character
  • 亅hook · jué
The character 解 (jiě) with each of its parts in a different colour
解jiěto divide
  • 角horn · jiǎo
  • 刀knife · dāo
  • 牛cow · niú

Memory aidA knife 刀 taking the horn 角 off an ox 牛: to take apart, to explain.

How to write 了解

了 2 strokes · 解 13 strokes

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

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

Words related to 了解

Words with 了

了le · aspect particle除了chúle · besides为了wèile · in order to受不了shòubùliǎo · unbearable不得了bùdéliǎo · extremely了不起liǎobuqǐ · amazing大不了dàbuliǎo · at worst一目了然yímùliǎorán · clear at a glance

Words with 解

解决jiějué · settle a dispute解释jiěshì · explanation理解lǐjiě · to comprehend缓解huǎnjiě · to bring relief解剖jiěpōu · to dissect辩解biànjiě · to justify误解wùjiě · to misunderstand解除jiěchú · to remove解散jiěsàn · to dissolve解体jiětǐ · to disintegrate

More words: Thinking & Talking

解决jiějué · settle a dispute决定juédìng · decide练习liànxí · practice聊天liáotiān · to chat明白míngbai · clear难过nánguò · be grieved认为rènwéi · believe认真rènzhēn · serious

FAQs

了解 (liǎojiě) means “comprehend” or “understand”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it liǎojiě: liǎo with a 3rd tone, then jiě with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like liáojiě. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 了解 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type liaojie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 了解 from the suggestions. Typing liaojie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
了解 is an HSK 3 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.