HSK 6 · Adjectives

保守 bǎoshǒu “conservative” in Chinese

Said as báoshǒu

Same in Traditional

What 保守 means

  1. conservative
  2. to keep (a secret)
  3. to guard
  4. to keep

How to say 保守

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale保bǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale守shǒu3rd tone, dipping

Said as báoshǒu. 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

保守 in a sentence

  1. 我非常保守。

    Wǒ fēicháng bǎoshǒu.

    I’m very conservative.

    Sentence #13894423 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你能保守多少秘密？

    Nǐ néng bǎoshǒu duōshǎo mìmì?

    How many secrets can you keep?

    Sentence #7773209 from Tatoeba

  3. 请保守这个秘密。

    Qǐng bǎoshǒu zhè ge mìmì.

    Please keep this secret.

    Sentence #826209 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 保守 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 保 (bǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
保bǎoto defend; to protect; to keep
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 呆dull · dāiSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 呆 (dāi) hints at the sound. Compare it with bǎo.

The character 守 (shǒu) with each of its parts in a different colour
守shǒuto guard
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 寸inch · cùn

How to write 保守

保 9 strokes · 守 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 保守

Words with 保

保证bǎozhèng · guarantee保护bǎohù · to protect保留bǎoliú · to keep保持bǎochí · to keep保存bǎocún · to conserve保险bǎoxiǎn · insurance保养bǎoyǎng · to take care of (one’s health)保重bǎozhòng · to take care of oneself保密bǎomì · to keep something secret保管bǎoguǎn · to look after

Words with 守

遵守zūnshǒu · to comply with防守fángshǒu · to defend守护shǒuhù · to guard

More words: Adjectives

安宁ānníng · peaceful安详ānxiáng · serene凹凸āotū · uneven霸道bàdào · overbearing卑鄙bēibǐ · despicable悲惨bēicǎn · miserable被动bèidòng · passive笨拙bènzhuō · clumsy

FAQs

保守 (bǎoshǒu) means “conservative” or “to keep (a secret)”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it bǎoshǒu: bǎo with a 3rd tone, then shǒu with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like báoshǒu. 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. 保守 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type baoshou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 保守 from the suggestions. Typing baoshou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
保守 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.