HSK 5 · Verbs

交换 jiāohuàn “to exchange” in Chinese

Traditional 交換

What 交换 means

  1. to exchange
  2. to swap
  3. to switch (telecom)
  4. commutative (maths)
  5. to commute

How to say 交换

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale交jiāo1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale换huàn4th tone, falling

交换 in a sentence

  1. 我和他交换了邮票。

    Wǒ hé tā jiāohuàn le yóupiào.

    I exchanged stamps with him.

    Sentence #984936 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 双方在会谈中友好地交换了看法。

    Shuāngfāng zài huìtán zhōng yǒuhǎo de jiāohuàn le kànfǎ.

    The two sides had a friendly exchange of views during the talks.

    Sentence #3205542 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我用一台照相机交换一把吉他。

    Wǒ yòng yì tái zhàoxiàngjī jiāohuàn yì bǎ jítā.

    I swapped a camera for a guitar.

    Sentence #884145 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 交换 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 交 (jiāo) with each of its parts in a different colour
交jiāoto hand over; to deliver; to pay
  • 六six · liù
  • 乂to govern · yì

Memory aidDrawn from a person with crossed legs: to cross, to hand over.

The character 换 (huàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
换huànto exchange
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 奂numerous · huànSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 奂 (huàn) hints at the sound. Compare it with huàn.

How to write 交换

交 6 strokes · 换 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 交换

Words with 交

公交车gōngjiāochē · public transport vehicle交jiāo · to hand over交流jiāoliú · to exchange交通jiāotōng · traffic交往jiāowǎng · to associate with交际jiāojì · social interaction外交wàijiāo · diplomacy打交道dǎjiāodào · to come into contact with交代jiāodài · to explain交涉jiāoshè · to negotiate

Words with 换

换huàn · change兑换duìhuàn · to exchange (money)

More words: Common Verbs

捡jiǎn · to pick up建立jiànlì · to establish建设jiànshè · to build讲究jiǎngjiu · to be particular about交际jiāojì · social interaction浇jiāo · to water (plants)教训jiàoxun · a lesson (learnt the hard way)接触jiēchù · to touch

FAQs

交换 (jiāohuàn) means “to exchange” or “to swap”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it jiāohuàn: jiāo with a 1st tone, then huàn 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, 交换 is written 交換. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jiaohuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 交换 from the suggestions. Typing jiaohuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
交换 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.