HSK 2 · Common Things

手表 shǒubiǎo “watch” in Chinese

Said as shóubiǎo

Traditional 手錶

What 手表 means

  1. watch
  2. wristwatch

Measure word 块 kuài or 只 zhī · 一块手表 yí kuài shǒubiǎo

How to say 手表

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale手shǒu3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale表biǎo3rd tone, dipping

Said as shóubiǎo. 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

手表 in a sentence

  1. 你的手表在哪儿？

    Nǐ de shǒubiǎo zài nǎr?

    Where’s your watch?

    Sentence #1216071 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你的手表比我的贵。

    Nǐ de shǒubiǎo bǐ wǒ de guì.

    Your watch is more expensive than mine.

    Sentence #481172 from Tatoeba

  3. 我叔叔给了我一块漂亮的手表。

    Wǒ shūshu gěi le wǒ yí kuài piàoliang de shǒubiǎo.

    My uncle gave me a beautiful watch.

    Sentence #333700 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 手表 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 手 (shǒu) drawn as one shape
手shǒuhand

手 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a hand with its fingers spread. On the left of a character it is written 扌.

The character 表 (biǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
表biǎoexterior surface
  • 毛fur · máo
  • 衣clothes · yī

Memory aidFur 毛 on the outside of clothes 衣: the outside, to show.

How to write 手表

手 4 strokes · 表 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 手表

Words with 手

手shǒu · hand手机shǒujī · mobile phone洗手间xǐshǒujiān · toilet分手fēnshǒu · to break up手术shǒushù · (surgical) operation手指shǒuzhǐ · finger手套shǒutào · glove对手duìshǒu · opponent握手wòshǒu · to shake hands手工shǒugōng · handmade

Words with 表

表示biǎoshì · to express表扬biǎoyáng · to praise表演biǎoyǎn · to perform表格biǎogé · form表达biǎodá · to express表明biǎomíng · to make clear表现biǎoxiàn · to show代表dàibiǎo · representative表情biǎoqíng · (facial) expression发表fābiǎo · to issue

More words: Everyday Things

课kè · class门mén · door票piào · ticket铅笔qiānbǐ · pencil手机shǒujī · mobile phone题tí · question (on a test)雪xuě · snow问题wèntí · question

FAQs

手表 (shǒubiǎo) means “watch” or “wristwatch”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it shǒubiǎo: shǒu with a 3rd tone, then biǎo with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like shóubiǎo. 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.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 手表 is written 手錶. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 块 (kuài) or 只 (zhī). For example, one watch is 一块手表 (yí kuài shǒubiǎo).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shoubiao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 手表 from the suggestions. Typing shoubiao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
手表 is an HSK 2 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.