HSK 4 · Adjectives

合适 héshì “suitable” in Chinese

Traditional 合適

What 合适 means

  1. suitable
  2. fitting
  3. appropriate

How to say 合适

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale合hé2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale适shì4th tone, falling

合适 in a sentence

  1. 这套西装合适吗？

    Zhè tào xīzhuāng héshì ma?

    Does this suit fit?

    Sentence #2918351 from Tatoeba

  2. 很难找到合适的翻译。

    Hěn nán zhǎodào héshì de fānyì.

    It’s hard to find a suitable translation.

    Sentence #1776807 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你觉得说这种话合适吗？

    Nǐ juéde shuō zhè zhǒng huà héshì ma?

    Do you think it’s appropriate to talk like that?

    Sentence #9990126 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 合适 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 合 (hé) with each of its parts in a different colour
合héto close
  • 亼to assemble · jí
  • 口mouth · kǒu
The character 适 (shì) with each of its parts in a different colour
适shìto fit
  • 舌tongue · shéSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 舌 (shé) hints at the sound. Compare it with shì.

How to write 合适

合 6 strokes · 适 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 合适

Words with 合

符合fúhé · in keeping with适合shìhé · to fit合格hégé · to meet the standard required合影héyǐng · to take a joint photo集合jíhé · to gather结合jiéhé · to combine联合liánhé · to combine配合pèihé · to cooperate组合zǔhé · to assemble合法héfǎ · lawful

Words with 适

适合shìhé · to fit适应shìyìng · to adapt舒适shūshì · cosy适宜shìyí · suitable

More words: Adjectives

干gān · dry关键guānjiàn · crucial point国际guójì · international合格hégé · to meet the standard required厚hòu · thick活泼huópo · lively积极jījí · active假jiǎ · false

FAQs

合适 (héshì) means “suitable” or “fitting”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it héshì: hé with a 2nd tone, then shì 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, 合适 is written 合適. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type heshi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 合适 from the suggestions. Typing heshi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
合适 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.