HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Places

红绿灯 hónglǜdēng “traffic lights” in Chinese

Traditional 紅綠燈

What 红绿灯 means

  1. traffic lights
  2. traffic light
  3. traffic signal

How to say 红绿灯

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale红hóng2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale绿lǜ4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale灯dēng1st tone, high and level

红绿灯 in a sentence

  1. 到了红绿灯以后，往右拐。

    Dào le hónglǜdēng yǐhòu, wǎng yòu guǎi.

    When you get to the traffic lights, turn right.

    Sentence #841829 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你一路往前走，过了红绿灯就到了。

    Nǐ yílù wǎng qián zǒu, guò le hónglǜdēng jiù dào le.

    Go straight ahead; once you’re past the traffic lights, you’re there.

    Sentence #391130 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 在第一个红绿灯左转。

    Zài dìyī ge hónglǜdēng zuǒzhuǎn.

    Turn left at the first set of traffic lights.

    Sentence #801350 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 红绿灯 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 红 (hóng) with each of its parts in a different colour
红hóngred
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 工work · gōngSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 工 (gōng) hints at the sound. Compare it with hóng.

Memory aidSilk 纟 with 工 (gōng) for the sound: red, the colour of dyed silk.

The character 绿 (lǜ) with each of its parts in a different colour
绿lǜgreen
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 录to copy · lùSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 录 (lù) hints at the sound. Compare it with lǜ.

The character 灯 (dēng) with each of its parts in a different colour
灯dēnglamp
  • 火fire · huǒMeaning part
  • 丁part of the characterSound part

Memory aidFire 火 on the left: a flame, a lamp. 丁 (dīng) gives the sound.

How to write 红绿灯

红 6 strokes · 绿 11 strokes · 灯 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 红绿灯

Words with 红

红hóng · red红茶hóngchá · black tea红色hóngsè · red (colour)西红柿xīhóngshì · tomato分红fēnhóng · to share profits

Words with 绿

绿茶lǜchá · green tea绿色lǜsè · green绿lǜ · green

Words with 灯

灯dēng · lamp灯笼dēnglong · lantern

More words: Places & Getting Around

晚点wǎndiǎn · (of trains动物园dòngwùyuán · zoo东南dōngnán · southeast高铁gāotiě · high-speed rail检票jiǎnpiào · to check tickets区qū · district城chéng · city步bù · step

FAQs

红绿灯 (hónglǜdēng) means “traffic lights” or “traffic light”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it hónglǜdēng: hóng with a 2nd tone, then lǜ with a 4th tone, then dēng with a 1st 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, 红绿灯 is written 紅綠燈. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type hongludeng with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 红绿灯 from the suggestions. Typing hongludeng into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
红绿灯 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 5 word list. It is not on the older 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.