HSK 5 · Verbs

当心 dāngxīn “to be careful” in Chinese

Traditional 當心

What 当心 means

  1. to be careful
  2. to watch out
  3. to take care
  4. to look out

How to say 当心

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale当dāng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale心xīn1st tone, high and level

当心 in a sentence

  1. 在这附近当心小偷。

    Zài zhè fùjìn dāngxīn xiǎotōu.

    Watch out for pickpockets around here.

    Sentence #798282 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 当你过马路的时候要当心汽车。

    Dāng nǐ guò mǎlù de shíhou yào dāngxīn qìchē.

    Watch out for cars when you cross the road.

    Sentence #874487 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 如果你能当心些那就更好了。

    Rúguǒ nǐ néng dāngxīn xiē nà jiù gèng hǎo le.

    If you could be a bit more careful, that would be even better.

    Sentence #2035072 from Tatoeba

How 当心 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 当 (dāng) with each of its parts in a different colour
当dāngdong
  • ⺌small form of 小 · xiǎo
  • 彐snout · jì
The character 心 (xīn) drawn as one shape
心xīnheart

心 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a heart. On the left of a character it is written 忄.

How to write 当心

当 6 strokes · 心 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 当心

Words with 当

当然dāngrán · of course当dāng · to act as当时dāngshí · then当地dāngdì · local上当shàngdàng · to be fooled相当xiāngdāng · equivalent to当场dāngchǎng · on the spot当初dāngchū · originally当代dāngdài · contemporary当前dāngqián · current

Words with 心

担心dānxīn · to worry放心fàngxīn · relax关心guānxīn · concerned about/with小心xiǎoxīn · be careful心里xīnlǐ · in one’s heart心xīn · heart伤心shāngxīn · to grieve粗心cūxīn · careless耐心nàixīn · to be patient开心kāixīn · to feel happy

More words: Thinking & Talking

称chēng · to call称呼chēnghu · to call称赞chēngzàn · to praise承认chéngrèn · to admit答应dāying · to agree打听dǎting · to ask about反映fǎnyìng · to reflect发言fāyán · to make a speech

FAQs

当心 (dāngxīn) means “to be careful” or “to watch out”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it dāngxīn: dāng with a 1st tone, then xīn 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, 当心 is written 當心. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dangxin with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 当心 from the suggestions. Typing dangxin into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
当心 is an HSK 5 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.