HSK 6 · Verbs

衬托 chèntuō “to set off” in Chinese

Traditional 襯托

What 衬托 means

  1. to set off
  2. to serve as a foil to
  3. to serve to highlight
  4. to serve as a backdrop or contrasting element

How to say 衬托

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale衬chèn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale托tuō1st tone, high and level

衬托 in a sentence

  1. 白色的墙衬托着红色的花，非常好看。

    Báisè de qiáng chèntuō zhe hóngsè de huā, fēicháng hǎokàn.

    The white wall sets off the red flowers beautifully.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 绿叶衬托着花朵。

    Lǜyè chèntuō zhe huāduǒ.

    The green leaves set off the flowers.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 衬托 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 衬 (chèn) with each of its parts in a different colour
衬chènagainst the skin
  • 衤clothes form of 衣 · yīMeaning part
  • 寸inch · cùnSound part

衤 hints at the meaning (clothes); 寸 (cùn) hints at the sound. Compare it with chèn.

The character 托 (tuō) with each of its parts in a different colour
托tuōto hold up in one’s hand
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒu
  • 乇to depend on · zhé

How to write 衬托

衬 8 strokes · 托 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 衬托

Words with 衬

衬衫chènshān · shirt

Words with 托

摩托车mótuōchē · motorbike拜托bàituō · to ask a favour依托yītuō · to rely on寄托jìtuō · to place (hopes) on委托wěituō · to entrust托运tuōyùn · to check in (luggage)

More words: Common Verbs

缠绕chánrào · to wind around超越chāoyuè · to surpass呈现chéngxiàn · to appear陈列chénliè · to display撤退chètuì · to retreat撤销chèxiāo · to cancel吃苦chīkǔ · to endure hardship充当chōngdāng · to serve as

FAQs

衬托 (chèntuō) means “to set off” or “to serve as a foil to”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it chèntuō: chèn with a 4th tone, then tuō with a 1st 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, 衬托 is written 襯托. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type chentuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 衬托 from the suggestions. Typing chentuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
衬托 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.