HSK 5 · Verbs

等于 děngyú “to equal” in Chinese

Traditional 等於

What 等于 means

  1. to equal
  2. to be tantamount to

How to say 等于

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale等děng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale于yú2nd tone, rising

等于 in a sentence

  1. 一加二等于三。

    Yī jiā èr děngyú sān.

    One plus two equals three.

    Sentence #475764 from Tatoeba

  2. 省下了一分钱，就等于赚了一分钱。

    Shěng xià le yì fēn qián, jiù děngyú zhuàn le yì fēn qián.

    A penny saved is a penny earned.

    Sentence #874297 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 世界就像是一本书，走一步等于翻了一页。

    Shìjiè jiù xiàng shì yì běn shū, zǒu yí bù děngyú fān le yí yè.

    The world is like a book: every step you take is like turning a page.

    Sentence #4515028 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 等于 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 等 (děng) with each of its parts in a different colour
等děngto wait for; to await
  • ⺮bamboo form of 竹 · zhú
  • 寺court · sì
The character 于 (yú) with each of its parts in a different colour
于yúto go
  • 二two · èr
  • 亅hook · jué

How to write 等于

等 12 strokes · 于 3 strokes

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

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

Words related to 等于

Words with 等

等děng · to wait等待děngdài · to wait平等píngděng · equal等候děnghòu · to wait相等xiāngděng · equal等级děngjí · grade

Words with 于

终于zhōngyú · at last关于guānyú · about对于duìyú · regarding由于yóuyú · due to于是yúshì · thereupon位于wèiyú · to be located at善于shànyú · to be good at属于shǔyú · to be classified as在于zàiyú · to lie in至于zhìyú · as for

More words: Common Verbs

导致dǎozhì · to lead to到达dàodá · to reach登记dēngjì · to register (one’s name)等待děngdài · to wait滴dī · a drop递dì · to hand over断duàn · to break鼓掌gǔzhǎng · to applaud

FAQs

等于 (děngyú) means “to equal” or “to be tantamount to”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it děngyú: děng with a 3rd tone, then yú with a 2nd 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, 等于 is written 等於. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dengyu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 等于 from the suggestions. Typing dengyu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
等于 is an HSK 5 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.