HSK 1 · Common Objects

汉语 Hànyǔ “Mandarin (Han language)” in Chinese

Traditional 漢語

What 汉语 means

  1. Mandarin (Han language)
  2. Chinese language

How to say 汉语

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale汉Hàn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale语yǔ3rd tone, dipping

汉语 in a sentence

  1. 你能说汉语吗？

    Nǐ néng shuō Hànyǔ ma?

    Can you speak Chinese?

    Sentence #10966843 from Tatoeba

  2. 她也学习汉语。

    Tā yě xuéxí Hànyǔ.

    She studies Chinese too.

    Sentence #5574167 from Tatoeba

  3. 谁是你的汉语老师？

    Shéi shì nǐ de Hànyǔ lǎoshī?

    Who is your Chinese teacher?

    Sentence #333591 from Tatoeba

  4. 这是本汉语书。

    Zhè shì běn Hànyǔ shū.

    This is a Chinese language book.

    Sentence #3377903 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 汉语 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 汉 (hàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
汉hànmanHàn in 汉语
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐ
  • 又again · yòu

Memory aidSimplified from 漢, the Han River 氵. The river gave its name to the Han dynasty and then to the Chinese people.

The character 语 (yǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
语yǔdialect
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 吾I · wúSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 吾 (wú) hints at the sound. Compare it with yǔ.

Memory aidWords 讠 that I 吾 say: language. 吾 (wú) also gives the sound.

How to write 汉语

汉 5 strokes · 语 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 汉语

Words with 汉

汉字hànzì · Chinese character

Words with 语

外语wàiyǔ · foreign language词语cíyǔ · words and expressions语法yǔfǎ · grammar语言yǔyán · language成语chéngyǔ · idiom语气yǔqì · tone母语mǔyǔ · mother tongue谜语míyǔ · riddle

More words: Everyday Things

猫māo · cat狗gǒu · dog东西dōngxi · thing字zì · character报纸bàozhǐ · newspaper考试kǎoshì · exam课kè · class门mén · door

FAQs

汉语 (Hànyǔ) means “Mandarin (Han language)” or “Chinese language”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it Hànyǔ: Hàn with a 4th tone, then yǔ with a 3rd 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, 汉语 is written 漢語. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type hanyu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 汉语 from the suggestions. Typing hanyu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
汉语 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

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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.