HSK 1 · Common Objects

电脑 diànnǎo “computer” in Chinese

Traditional 電腦

What 电脑 means

  1. computer

Measure word 台 tái · 一台电脑 yì tái diànnǎo

How to say 电脑

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale电diàn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale脑nǎo3rd tone, dipping

电脑 in a sentence

  1. 这是我的电脑。

    Zhè shì wǒ de diànnǎo.

    This is my computer.

    Sentence #2346872 from Tatoeba

  2. 我让我妹妹用我的新电脑。

    Wǒ ràng wǒ mèimei yòng wǒ de xīn diànnǎo.

    I let my sister use my new computer.

    Sentence #390519 from Tatoeba

  3. 你的电脑有什么问题？

    Nǐ de diànnǎo yǒu shénme wèntí?

    What’s wrong with your computer?

    Sentence #5842674 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 电脑 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 电 (diàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
电diànlightning
  • 曰say · yuē
  • 乚second (cyclical) form of 乙 · yǐ

Memory aidSimplified from 電: lightning under the rain 雨: electricity.

The character 脑 (nǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
脑nǎobrain
  • ⺼meat form of 肉 · ròuMeaning part
  • 亠lid · tóu
  • 凶culprit · xiōng

How to write 电脑

电 5 strokes · 脑 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 电脑

Words with 电

电视diànshì · television电影diànyǐng · movie电话diànhuà · telephone打电话dǎ diànhuà · to make a phone call电影院diànyǐngyuàn · cinema电diàn · electricity电梯diàntī · lift电子书diànzǐshū · e-book电子邮件diànzǐ yóujiàn · email电台diàntái · radio station

Words with 脑

脑袋nǎodai · head伤脑筋shāngnǎojīn · troublesome

More words: Everyday Things

椅子yǐzi · chair桌子zhuōzi · table衣服yīfu · clothes杯子bēizi · cup电视diànshì · television电影diànyǐng · movie飞机fēijī · aeroplane出租车chūzūchē · taxi

FAQs

电脑 (diànnǎo) means “computer”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it diànnǎo: diàn with a 4th tone, then nǎo with a 3rd 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, 电脑 is written 電腦. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 台 (tái). For example, one computer is 一台电脑 (yì tái diànnǎo).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type diannao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 电脑 from the suggestions. Typing diannao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
电脑 is an HSK 1 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.