HSK 6 · Ideas

潜移默化 qiányímòhuà “to influence subtly over time” in Chinese

Traditional 潛移默化

What 潜移默化 means

  1. to influence subtly over time
  2. imperceptible influence
  3. to influence secretly

How to say 潜移默化

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale潜qián2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale移yí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale默mò4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale化huà4th tone, falling

潜移默化 in a sentence

  1. 父母的习惯会潜移默化地影响孩子。

    Fùmǔ de xíguàn huì qiányímòhuà de yǐngxiǎng háizi.

    Parents’ habits gradually rub off on their children.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 音乐对人有潜移默化的作用。

    Yīnyuè duì rén yǒu qiányímòhuà de zuòyòng.

    Music has a subtle influence on people.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 潜移默化 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 潜 (qián) with each of its parts in a different colour
潜qiánhidden
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 替to change · tìSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 替 (tì) hints at the sound. Compare it with qián.

The character 移 (yí) with each of its parts in a different colour
移yíto move
  • 禾grain · hé
  • 多much · duō
The character 默 (mò) with each of its parts in a different colour
默mòsilent
  • 黑black · hēi
  • 犬dog · quǎn
The character 化 (huà) with each of its parts in a different colour
化huàto make into
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 匕spoon · bǐ

Memory aidA person 亻 next to a person turned upside down 匕: to change, to transform.

How to write 潜移默化

潜 15 strokes · 移 11 strokes · 默 16 strokes · 化 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 潜移默化

Words with 潜

潜水qiánshuǐ · to dive潜力qiánlì · potential

Words with 移

移动yídòng · to move移民yímín · to immigrate转移zhuǎnyí · to transfer

Words with 默

幽默yōumò · humour沉默chénmò · silent默默mòmò · silently

Words with 化

变化biànhuà · change文化wénhuà · culture消化xiāohuà · to digest (food or information)化学huàxué · chemistry化验huàyàn · laboratory test化妆huàzhuāng · to put on make-up恶化èhuà · to worsen简化jiǎnhuà · to simplify进化jìnhuà · evolution化肥huàféi · chemical fertiliser

More words: Ideas & Concepts

千方百计qiānfāngbǎijì · by every possible means前景qiánjǐng · prospects潜力qiánlì · potential前提qiántí · premise窍门qiàomén · knack起伏qǐfú · to rise and fall情理qínglǐ · reason倾向qīngxiàng · tendency

FAQs

潜移默化 (qiányímòhuà) means “to influence subtly over time” or “imperceptible influence”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it qiányímòhuà: qián with a 2nd tone, then yí with a 2nd tone, then mò with a 4th 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, 潜移默化 is written 潛移默化. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qianyimohua with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 潜移默化 from the suggestions. Typing qianyimohua into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
潜移默化 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.