HSK 5 · Media

摄影 shèyǐng “to take a photograph” in Chinese

Traditional 攝影

What 摄影 means

  1. to take a photograph
  2. photography
  3. to shoot (a movie)

How to say 摄影

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale摄shè4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale影yǐng3rd tone, dipping

摄影 in a sentence

  1. 我对摄影感兴趣。

    Wǒ duì shèyǐng gǎn xìngqù.

    I’m interested in photography.

    Sentence #332751 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我参加了一个摄影比赛。

    Wǒ cānjiā le yí ge shèyǐng bǐsài.

    I took part in a photography competition.

    Sentence #5957621 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 谁是你最喜欢的摄影师？

    Shéi shì nǐ zuì xǐhuan de shèyǐngshī?

    Who’s your favourite photographer?

    Sentence #10628774 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 摄影 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 摄 (shè) with each of its parts in a different colour
摄shèto take in; to absorb; to assimilate
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 聂to whisper · nièSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 聂 (niè) hints at the sound. Compare it with shè.

The character 影 (yǐng) with each of its parts in a different colour
影yǐngpicture
  • 景part of the characterSound part
  • 彡bristle · shānMeaning part

Memory aidRays of light 彡 with 景 (jǐng) for the sound: a shadow, an image.

How to write 摄影

摄 13 strokes · 影 15 strokes

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

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

Words related to 摄影

Words with 摄

摄氏度shèshìdù · degrees Celsius

Words with 影

电影diànyǐng · movie电影院diànyǐngyuàn · cinema影响yǐngxiǎng · influence合影héyǐng · to take a joint photo影子yǐngzi · shadow

More words: Media & Arts

媒体méitǐ · media明星míngxīng · star频道píndào · frequency色彩sècǎi · colour神话shénhuà · legend诗shī · poem文学wénxué · literature戏剧xìjù · drama

FAQs

摄影 (shèyǐng) means “to take a photograph” or “photography”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it shèyǐng: shè with a 4th tone, then yǐng with a 3rd 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, 摄影 is written 攝影. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type sheying with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 摄影 from the suggestions. Typing sheying into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
摄影 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.