HSK 4 · Education

普通话 pǔtōnghuà “Mandarin” in Chinese

Traditional 普通話

What 普通话 means

  1. Mandarin
  2. standard Chinese
  3. Putonghua
  4. standard Mandarin

How to say 普通话

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale普pǔ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale通tōng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale话huà4th tone, falling

普通话 in a sentence

  1. 你会讲普通话吗？

    Nǐ huì jiǎng Pǔtōnghuà ma?

    Can you speak Mandarin?

    Sentence #421010 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我明年想学普通话。

    Wǒ míngnián xiǎng xué Pǔtōnghuà.

    I want to learn Mandarin next year.

    Sentence #857224 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他不但会说普通话，而且会说上海话。

    Tā búdàn huì shuō Pǔtōnghuà, érqiě huì shuō Shànghǎihuà.

    He can speak not only Mandarin but also Shanghainese.

    Sentence #380969 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 普通话 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 普 (pǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
普pǔgeneral
  • 並to combine
  • 日sun · rì
The character 通 (tōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
通tōngto go through
  • 甬path · tǒngSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 甬 (tǒng) hints at the sound. Compare it with tōng.

The character 话 (huà) with each of its parts in a different colour
话huàdialect
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yán
  • 舌tongue · shé

Memory aidSpeech 讠 from the tongue 舌: talk, words.

How to write 普通话

普 12 strokes · 通 10 strokes · 话 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 普通话

Words with 普

普遍pǔbiàn · universal普及pǔjí · to popularise

Words with 通

通tōng · to go through通知tōngzhī · to notify通过tōngguò · to pass through交通jiāotōng · traffic沟通gōutōng · to communicate通常tōngcháng · regular畅通chàngtōng · unimpeded通俗tōngsú · popular通用tōngyòng · in common use精通jīngtōng · to be proficient in

Words with 话

电话diànhuà · telephone打电话dǎ diànhuà · to make a phone call说话shuōhuà · to speak的话dehuà · if (ends a conditional clause)对话duìhuà · dialogue笑话xiàohua · joke废话fèihuà · nonsense实话shíhuà · truth神话shénhuà · legend话题huàtí · subject (of a talk or conversation)

More words: School, Work & Culture

错误cuòwù · mistaken基础jīchǔ · base教授jiàoshòu · professor教育jiàoyù · to educate硕士shuòshì · master’s degree小说xiǎoshuō · novel学期xuéqī · term研究yánjiū · to research

FAQs

普通话 (pǔtōnghuà) means “Mandarin” or “standard Chinese”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it pǔtōnghuà: pǔ with a 3rd tone, then tōng with a 1st tone, then huà 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, 普通话 is written 普通話. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type putonghua with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 普通话 from the suggestions. Typing putonghua into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
普通话 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.