HSK 3 · Adjectives

重要 zhòngyào “important” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 重要 means

  1. important
  2. significant
  3. major

How to say 重要

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale重zhòng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale要yào4th tone, falling

重要 in a sentence

  1. 我有很重要的事情要跟你说。

    Wǒ yǒu hěn zhòngyào de shìqing yào gēn nǐ shuō.

    I have something very important to tell you.

    Sentence #11702401 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 那对我不重要。

    Nà duì wǒ bú zhòngyào.

    That’s not important to me.

    Sentence #1424248 from Tatoeba

  3. 没有什么比健康更重要。

    Méiyǒu shénme bǐ jiànkāng gèng zhòngyào.

    Nothing is more important than your health.

    Sentence #13911079 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 重要 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 重 (zhòng) with each of its parts in a different colour
重zhòngheavy
  • 千thousand · qiān
  • 里village · lǐ
The character 要 (yào) with each of its parts in a different colour
要yàoto want; to need; to ask for
  • 覀cover form of 襾 · yà
  • 女woman · nǚ

Memory aidOnce drawn as a person with hands on the waist, its first meaning. That meaning moved to 腰 (yāo), and 要 became “to want”.

How to write 重要

重 9 strokes · 要 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 重要

Words with 重

重zhòng · heavy重视zhòngshì · to take seriously尊重zūnzhòng · to esteem严重yánzhòng · grave重点zhòngdiǎn · key point重新chóngxīn · again重复chóngfù · to repeat重大zhòngdà · major重量zhòngliàng · weight保重bǎozhòng · to take care of oneself

Words with 要

不要bùyào · don’t!要yào · want快要kuàiyào · about to需要xūyào · to need要求yāoqiú · to request主要zhǔyào · main就要jiùyào · about to要是yàoshi · if只要zhǐyào · if only必要bìyào · necessary

More words: Adjectives

新鲜xīnxiān · fresh experience有名yǒumíng · famous越yuè · even more长zhǎng · to grow主要zhǔyào · main不同bùtóng · different不行bùxíng · won’t do急jí · anxious

FAQs

重要 (zhòngyào) means “important” or “significant”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it zhòngyào: zhòng with a 4th tone, then yào with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 重要 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhongyao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 重要 from the suggestions. Typing zhongyao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
重要 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.