HSK 6 · Society

候选 hòuxuǎn “candidate” in Chinese

Traditional 候選

What 候选 means

  1. candidate
  2. to be a candidate
  3. candidate (attributive)

How to say 候选

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale候hòu4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale选xuǎn3rd tone, dipping

候选 in a sentence

  1. 他是那个职位最有希望的候选人。

    Tā shì nà ge zhíwèi zuì yǒu xīwàng de hòuxuǎnrén.

    He was the strongest candidate for the position.

    Sentence #2411006 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他是市长的候选人之一。

    Tā shì shìzhǎng de hòuxuǎnrén zhī yī.

    He is one of the candidates for mayor.

    Sentence #410729 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 奇怪的是，谁也没有投那候选人一票。

    Qíguài de shì, shéi yě méiyǒu tóu nà hòuxuǎnrén yí piào.

    Strangely, nobody voted for that candidate.

    Sentence #343099 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 候选 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 候 (hòu) with each of its parts in a different colour
候hòuto wait
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 矦target in archery · hóuSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 矦 (hóu) hints at the sound. Compare it with hòu.

The character 选 (xuǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
选xuǎnto choose
  • 先first · xiānSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 先 (xiān) hints at the sound. Compare it with xuǎn.

How to write 候选

候 10 strokes · 选 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 候选

Words with 候

时候shíhou · time小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood气候qìhòu · climate问候wènhòu · to give one’s respects伺候cìhou · to serve等候děnghòu · to wait

Words with 选

选xuǎn · to choose选择xuǎnzé · select选手xuǎnshǒu · competitor筛选shāixuǎn · to screen选拔xuǎnbá · to select (the best)当选dāngxuǎn · to be elected竞选jìngxuǎn · to run for office选举xuǎnjǔ · to elect

More words: Society & Law

国防guófáng · national defence国务院guówùyuàn · State Council (of China)号召hàozhào · to call on和解héjiě · to reconcile皇帝huángdì · emperor皇后huánghòu · empress华侨huáqiáo · overseas Chinese贿赂huìlù · to bribe

FAQs

候选 (hòuxuǎn) means “candidate” or “to be a candidate”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it hòuxuǎn: hòu with a 4th tone, then xuǎn 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, 候选 is written 候選. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type houxuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 候选 from the suggestions. Typing houxuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
候选 is an HSK 6 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.