HSK 5 · Nature

蛇 shé “snake” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 蛇 means

  1. snake
  2. serpent

Measure word 条 tiáo · 一条蛇 yì tiáo shé

How to say 蛇

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale蛇shé2nd tone, rising

蛇 in a sentence

  1. “你喜欢蛇吗？”“当然不喜欢。”

    “Nǐ xǐhuan shé ma?” “Dāngrán bù xǐhuan.”

    “Do you like snakes?” “Of course not.”

    Sentence #399896 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他害怕蛇。

    Tā hàipà shé.

    He’s afraid of snakes.

    Sentence #2084022 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 摸这条蛇安全吗？

    Mō zhè tiáo shé ānquán ma?

    Is this snake safe to touch?

    Sentence #786139 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 蛇 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 蛇 (shé) with each of its parts in a different colour
蛇shésnake
  • 虫insect · chóngMeaning part
  • 它it · tāSound part

虫 hints at the meaning (insect); 它 (tā) hints at the sound. Compare it with shé.

How to write 蛇

蛇 11 strokes

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

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

Words related to 蛇

Words with 蛇

画蛇添足huàshétiānzú · to spoil something by adding the unnecessary (lit. drawing legs on a snake)

More words: Nature & Environment

能源néngyuán · energy沙漠shāmò · desert沙滩shātān · beach闪电shǎndiàn · lightning生长shēngzhǎng · to grow石头shítou · stone狮子shīzi · lion天空tiānkōng · sky

FAQs

蛇 (shé) means “snake” or “serpent”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it shé: shé with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 蛇 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 条 (tiáo). For example, one snake is 一条蛇 (yì tiáo shé).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type she with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 蛇 from the suggestions. Typing she into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
蛇 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.