HSK 3 · Verbs

发现 fāxiàn “discover” in Chinese

Traditional 發現

What 发现 means

  1. discover
  2. to find
  3. to notice
  4. to become aware of
  5. to detect
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • a discovery

How to say 发现

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale发fā1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale现xiàn4th tone, falling

发现 in a sentence

  1. 我发现一个地方能买到便宜的水果。

    Wǒ fāxiàn yí ge dìfang néng mǎi dào piányi de shuǐguǒ.

    I’ve found a place where you can buy cheap fruit.

    Sentence #344217 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 妈妈,看我发现了什么。

    Māma, kàn wǒ fāxiàn le shénme.

    Mum, look what I found.

    Sentence #9956906 from Tatoeba

  3. 我刚发现你能讲法语。

    Wǒ gāng fāxiàn nǐ néng jiǎng Fǎyǔ.

    I’ve just found out you can speak French.

    Sentence #9423287 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 发现 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 发 (fā) drawn as one shape
发fāto send out

发 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

The character 现 (xiàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
现xiànto appear
  • 王king · wáng
  • 见to see · jiàn

Memory aid王 here is jade 玉, and 见 gives the sound (it was once also read xiàn, “to appear”). Picture jade catching the eye: to appear, now.

How to write 发现

发 5 strokes · 现 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 发现

Words with 发

Words with 现

More words: Common Verbs

FAQs

发现 (fāxiàn) means “discover” or “to find”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it fāxiàn: fā with a 1st tone, then xiàn 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, 发现 is written 發現. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type faxian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 发现 from the suggestions. Typing faxian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
发现 is an HSK 3 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.