HSK 5 · Media

神话 shénhuà “legend” in Chinese

Traditional 神話

What 神话 means

  1. legend
  2. fairy tale
  3. myth
  4. mythology

How to say 神话

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale神shén2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale话huà4th tone, falling

神话 in a sentence

  1. 神话和传说应该一代一代的传承下去。

    Shénhuà hé chuánshuō yīnggāi yí dài yí dài de chuánchéng xiàqu.

    Myths and legends should be passed down from generation to generation.

    Sentence #710765 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 保罗的成功是一个神话。

    Bǎoluó de chénggōng shì yí ge shénhuà.

    Paul’s success was the stuff of legend.

    Sentence #380732 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 神话 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 神 (shén) with each of its parts in a different colour
神shéngod; deity
  • 礻sign form of 示 · shìMeaning part
  • 申to report · shēnSound part

礻 hints at the meaning (sign); 申 (shēn) hints at the sound. Compare it with shén.

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 神话

神 9 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.

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

Words related to 神话

Words with 神

Words with 话

More words: Media & Arts

FAQs

神话 (shénhuà) means “legend” or “fairy tale”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it shénhuà: shén with a 2nd 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, 神话 is written 神話. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shenhua with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 神话 from the suggestions. Typing shenhua into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
神话 is an HSK 5 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.