HSK 5 · Society

权力 quánlì “power” in Chinese

Traditional 權力

What 权力 means

  1. power
  2. authority

How to say 权力

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale权quán2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale力lì4th tone, falling

权力 in a sentence

  1. 我没有权力。

    Wǒ méiyǒu quánlì.

    I don’t have the authority.

    Sentence #13071591 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 国王滥用权力。

    Guówáng lànyòng quánlì.

    The king abused his power.

    Sentence #4440111 from Tatoeba

  3. 他向权力屈服。

    Tā xiàng quánlì qūfú.

    He bows to authority.

    Sentence #332460 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 权力 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 权 (quán) with each of its parts in a different colour
权quánauthority
  • 木tree · mùMeaning part
  • 又again · yòu

木 hints at the meaning (tree); 雚 (guàn) hints at the sound. Compare it with quán.

The character 力 (lì) drawn as one shape
力lìpower

力 is a single shape of 2 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidThought to show an old plough, and pulling it took strength: strength, power.

How to write 权力

权 6 strokes · 力 2 strokes

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

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

Words related to 权力

Words with 权

权利quánlì · right (an entitlement)权衡quánhéng · to weigh up权威quánwēi · authority政权zhèngquán · political power主权zhǔquán · sovereignty

Words with 力

More words: Society & Law

FAQs

权力 (quánlì) means “power” or “authority”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it quánlì: quán with a 2nd tone, then lì 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, 权力 is written 權力. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type quanli with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 权力 from the suggestions. Typing quanli into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
权力 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.