HSK 5 · Verbs

教训 jiàoxun “a lesson (learnt the hard way)” in Chinese

Traditional 教訓

What 教训 means

  1. a lesson (learnt the hard way)
  2. to teach someone a lesson
  3. to provide guidance
  4. to lecture sb
  5. to upbraid
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • a talking-to
  • a bitter lesson

Measure word 番 fān or 顿 dùn · 一番教训 yì fān jiàoxun

How to say 教训

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale教jiào4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own训xunneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

教训 in a sentence

  1. 你必须从失败中吸取教训。

    Nǐ bìxū cóng shībài zhōng xīqǔ jiàoxun.

    You must learn from your failures.

    Sentence #333507 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他想给他点教训。

    Tā xiǎng gěi tā diǎn jiàoxun.

    He wants to teach him a lesson.

    Sentence #6900952 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 不要沉迷于过去，而是要从中吸取教训。

    Búyào chénmí yú guòqù, érshì yào cóngzhōng xīqǔ jiàoxun.

    Don’t dwell on the past – learn from it instead.

    Sentence #6461969 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 教训 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 教 (jiào) with each of its parts in a different colour
教jiàoto teach; to instruct
  • 孝filial piety · xiàoSound part
  • 攵tap form of 攴 · pūMeaning part

攵 hints at the meaning (tap); 孝 (xiào) hints at the sound. Compare it with jiào.

The character 训 (xùn) with each of its parts in a different colour
训xùnto teach; to train; to admonishlight in 教训
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 川stream · chuānSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 川 (chuān) hints at the sound. Compare it with xun.

How to write 教训

教 11 strokes · 训 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 教训

Words with 教

教室jiàoshì · classroom教jiāo · teach教授jiàoshòu · professor教育jiàoyù · to educate教练jiàoliàn · instructor教材jiàocái · teaching material请教qǐngjiào · to ask for advice教养jiàoyǎng · upbringing宗教zōngjiào · religion

Words with 训

训练xùnliàn · to train培训péixùn · to train

More words: Common Verbs

讲究jiǎngjiu · to be particular about交换jiāohuàn · to exchange交际jiāojì · social interaction浇jiāo · to water (plants)接触jiēchù · to touch接近jiējìn · to approach节省jiéshěng · to save结合jiéhé · to combine

FAQs

教训 (jiàoxun) means “a lesson (learnt the hard way)” or “to teach someone a lesson”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it jiàoxun: jiào with a 4th tone, then xun with a neutral 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, 教训 is written 教訓. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 番 (fān) or 顿 (dùn). For example, one a lesson (learnt the hard way) is 一番教训 (yì fān jiàoxun).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jiaoxun with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 教训 from the suggestions. Typing jiaoxun into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
教训 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.