HSK 4 · Education

词语 cíyǔ “words and expressions” in Chinese

Traditional 詞語

What 词语 means

  1. words and expressions
  2. word (general term including monosyllables through to short phrases)
  3. term (e.g. technical term)
  4. expression

How to say 词语

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale词cí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale语yǔ3rd tone, dipping

词语 in a sentence

  1. “旗袍”这个词语在中国北方广为使用。

    “Qípáo” zhè ge cíyǔ zài Zhōngguó běifāng guǎngwéi shǐyòng.

    The term “qipao” is widely used in northern China.

    Sentence #727968 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 只可惜那些美妙的词语并非出于我手。

    Zhǐ kěxī nàxiē měimiào de cíyǔ bìngfēi chūyú wǒ shǒu.

    Unfortunately, those beautiful words aren’t my own.

    Sentence #10524990 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 词语 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 词 (cí) with each of its parts in a different colour
词cíword
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 司to take charge of · sīSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 司 (sī) hints at the sound. Compare it with cí.

The character 语 (yǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
语yǔdialect
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 吾I · wúSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 吾 (wú) hints at the sound. Compare it with yǔ.

Memory aidWords 讠 that I 吾 say: language. 吾 (wú) also gives the sound.

How to write 词语

词 7 strokes · 语 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 词语

Words with 词

词cí · word词典cídiǎn · dictionary词汇cíhuì · vocabulary

Words with 语

汉语Hànyǔ · Mandarin (Han language)外语wàiyǔ · foreign language语法yǔfǎ · grammar语言yǔyán · language成语chéngyǔ · idiom语气yǔqì · tone母语mǔyǔ · mother tongue谜语míyǔ · riddle

More words: School, Work & Culture

游戏yóuxì · game作业zuòyè · school assignment毕业bìyè · graduation博士bóshì · doctorate错误cuòwù · mistaken基础jīchǔ · base教授jiàoshòu · professor教育jiàoyù · to educate

FAQs

词语 (cíyǔ) means “words and expressions” or “word (general term including monosyllables through to short phrases)”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it cíyǔ: cí with a 2nd tone, then yǔ with a 3rd 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, 词语 is written 詞語. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ciyu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 词语 from the suggestions. Typing ciyu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
词语 is an HSK 4 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.