HSK 5 · Society

古典 gǔdiǎn “classical” in Chinese

Said as gúdiǎn

Same in Traditional

What 古典 means

  1. classical

How to say 古典

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale古gǔ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale典diǎn3rd tone, dipping

Said as gúdiǎn. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

古典 in a sentence

  1. 我喜欢古典音乐。

    Wǒ xǐhuan gǔdiǎn yīnyuè.

    I like classical music.

    Sentence #1259913 from Tatoeba

  2. 我放松时会听古典乐。

    Wǒ fàngsōng shí huì tīng gǔdiǎnyuè.

    When I want to relax, I listen to classical music.

    Sentence #11239871 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你必须每天背一篇古典文献。

    Nǐ bìxū měitiān bèi yì piān gǔdiǎn wénxiàn.

    You must memorise a classical text every day.

    Sentence #9975372 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 古典 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 古 (gǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
古gǔancient
  • 十ten · shí
  • 口mouth · kǒu
The character 典 (diǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
典diǎncanon
  • 曲crooked · qū
  • 八eight · bā

Memory aidThe top was once 册, a bundle of bamboo books, resting on a stand: important books, as in 词典 (cídiǎn) “dictionary”.

How to write 古典

古 5 strokes · 典 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 古典

Words with 古

古代gǔdài · ancient times名胜古迹míngshènggǔjì · famous sights and historic sites古怪gǔguài · strange考古kǎogǔ · archaeology古董gǔdǒng · antique

Words with 典

词典cídiǎn · dictionary字典zìdiǎn · dictionary (of characters)经典jīngdiǎn · classic典型diǎnxíng · typical典礼diǎnlǐ · ceremony

More words: Society & Law

罚款fákuǎn · to fine法院fǎyuàn · court of law风俗fēngsú · social custom公主gōngzhǔ · princess官guān · government official规则guīzé · rule国王guówáng · king和平hépíng · peace

FAQs

古典 (gǔdiǎn) means “classical”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it gǔdiǎn: gǔ with a 3rd tone, then diǎn with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like gúdiǎn. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 古典 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type gudian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 古典 from the suggestions. Typing gudian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
古典 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.