HSK 6 · Verbs

操练 cāoliàn “to drill” in Chinese

Traditional 操練

What 操练 means

  1. to drill
  2. to practise
  3. practice

How to say 操练

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale操cāo1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale练liàn4th tone, falling

操练 in a sentence

  1. 运动员们在操场上操练。

    Yùndòngyuánmen zài cāochǎng shàng cāoliàn.

    The athletes are drilling on the sports ground.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 我们反复操练这几个句型。

    Wǒmen fǎnfù cāoliàn zhè jǐ ge jùxíng.

    We drilled these sentence patterns over and over.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 操练 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 操 (cāo) with each of its parts in a different colour
操cāoto grasp
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 喿the sound of birds chirping · sàoSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 喿 (sào) hints at the sound. Compare it with cāo.

The character 练 (liàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
练liànto practise
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 柬card · jiǎnSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 柬 (jiǎn) hints at the sound. Compare it with liàn.

How to write 操练

操 16 strokes · 练 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 操练

Words with 操

操场cāochǎng · playground操心cāoxīn · to worry about操纵cāozòng · to control操劳cāoláo · to work hard操作cāozuò · to operate

Words with 练

练liàn · to practise练习liànxí · practice教练jiàoliàn · instructor熟练shúliàn · practised训练xùnliàn · to train排练páiliàn · to rehearse

More words: Common Verbs

布置bùzhì · to arrange捕捉bǔzhuō · to catch采集cǎijí · to gather残留cánliú · to remain操纵cāozòng · to control搀chān · to support by the arm颤抖chàndǒu · to tremble敞开chǎngkāi · to open wide

FAQs

操练 (cāoliàn) means “to drill” or “to practise”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it cāoliàn: cāo with a 1st tone, then liàn with a 4th 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, 操练 is written 操練. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type caolian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 操练 from the suggestions. Typing caolian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
操练 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.