HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Adjectives

常用 chángyòng “commonly used” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 常用 means

  1. commonly used
  2. in common use
  3. in common usage

How to say 常用

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale常cháng2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale用yòng4th tone, falling

常用 in a sentence

  1. 其中我最常用的是一种抽认卡系统。

    Qízhōng wǒ zuì chángyòng de shì yì zhǒng chōurènkǎ xìtǒng.

    Of those, the one I use most is a flashcard system.

    Sentence #899124 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 孩子们常用彩纸制作手工艺品。

    Háizimen chángyòng cǎizhǐ zhìzuò shǒugōngyìpǐn.

    Children often use coloured paper to make crafts.

    Sentence #13579998 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 常用 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 常 (cháng) with each of its parts in a different colour
常chángalways
  • 尚still · shàngSound part
  • 巾napkin · jīnMeaning part

巾 hints at the meaning (napkin); 尚 (shàng) hints at the sound. Compare it with cháng.

Memory aidCloth 巾 with 尚 (shàng) for the sound. Its first meaning was a skirt; now it means “often, usual”.

The character 用 (yòng) drawn as one shape
用yòngto use; to make use of; to employ

用 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 常用

常 11 strokes · 用 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 常用

Words with 常

非常fēicháng · extremely常cháng · often经常jīngcháng · often常见chángjiàn · common常常chángcháng · often正常zhèngcháng · regular平常píngcháng · ordinary常识chángshí · common sense日常rìcháng · day-to-day通常tōngcháng · regular

Words with 用

用yòng · to use不用búyòng · no need to有用yǒuyòng · useful信用卡xìnyòngkǎ · credit card使用shǐyòng · to use作用zuòyòng · effect利用lìyòng · to make use of应用yìngyòng · to put to use运用yùnyòng · to use实用shíyòng · practical

More words: Adjectives

大小dàxiǎo · size黄色huángsè · yellow有用yǒuyòng · useful常见chángjiàn · common难看nánkàn · ugly难听nántīng · unpleasant to hear安全ānquán · safe棒bàng · great

FAQs

常用 (chángyòng) means “commonly used” or “in common use”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it chángyòng: cháng with a 2nd tone, then yòng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 常用 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type changyong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 常用 from the suggestions. Typing changyong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
常用 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 5 word list. It is not on the older 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.