HSK 4 · Verbs

对话 duìhuà “dialogue” in Chinese

Traditional 對話

What 对话 means

  1. dialogue
  2. conversation
  3. to talk (with someone)
  4. to talk (with sb)

How to say 对话

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale对duì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale话huà4th tone, falling

对话 in a sentence

  1. 我没有参与对话。

    Wǒ méiyǒu cānyù duìhuà.

    I didn’t take part in the conversation.

    Sentence #462046 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 隔壁桌的对话吸引了我的注意。

    Gébì zhuō de duìhuà xīyǐn le wǒ de zhùyì.

    My attention was grabbed by a conversation at the neighbouring table.

    Sentence #13959009 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 我们的对话总是以争吵收场。

    Wǒmen de duìhuà zǒngshì yǐ zhēngchǎo shōuchǎng.

    Our conversation always ends in a quarrel.

    Sentence #466084 from Tatoeba

How 对话 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 对 (duì) with each of its parts in a different colour
对duìright; correct
  • 又again · yòu
  • 寸inch · cùn

Memory aidPicture two hands, 又 and 寸, facing each other as a matching pair: opposite, correct.

The character 话 (huà) with each of its parts in a different colour
话huàdialect
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yán
  • 舌tongue · shé

Memory aidSpeech 讠 from the tongue 舌: talk, words.

How to write 对话

对 5 strokes · 话 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 对话

Words with 对

对不起duìbuqǐ · sorry对duì · correct反对fǎnduì · to oppose对面duìmiàn · (sitting) opposite对于duìyú · regarding对方duìfāng · the other person对象duìxiàng · target对手duìshǒu · opponent对比duìbǐ · to contrast对待duìdài · to treat

Words with 话

电话diànhuà · telephone打电话dǎ diànhuà · to make a phone call说话shuōhuà · to speak的话dehuà · if (ends a conditional clause)笑话xiàohua · joke普通话pǔtōnghuà · Mandarin废话fèihuà · nonsense实话shíhuà · truth神话shénhuà · legend话题huàtí · subject (of a talk or conversation)

More words: Thinking & Talking

猜cāi · to guess成功chénggōng · success道歉dàoqiàn · to apologise打招呼dǎzhāohu · to say hello反对fǎnduì · to oppose敢gǎn · to dare感觉gǎnjué · feeling感谢gǎnxiè · (express) thanks

FAQs

对话 (duìhuà) means “dialogue” or “conversation”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it duìhuà: duì with a 4th tone, then huà with a 4th 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, 对话 is written 對話. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type duihua with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 对话 from the suggestions. Typing duihua into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
对话 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.