HSK 6 · Verbs

试图 shìtú “to attempt” in Chinese

Traditional 試圖

What 试图 means

  1. to attempt
  2. to try

How to say 试图

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale试shì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale图tú2nd tone, rising

试图 in a sentence

  1. 她试图说服他来参加会议。

    Tā shìtú shuōfú tā lái cānjiā huìyì.

    She tried to persuade him to come to the meeting.

    Sentence #9972418 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他试图游过河，但是失败了。

    Tā shìtú yóuguò hé, dànshì shībài le.

    He tried to swim across the river, but failed.

    Sentence #332698 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 试图劝她是没有用的。

    Shìtú quàn tā shì méiyǒu yòng de.

    It’s no use trying to persuade her.

    Sentence #893989 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 试图 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 试 (shì) with each of its parts in a different colour
试shìto test
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 式formula · shìSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 式 (shì) hints at the sound. Compare it with shì.

The character 图 (tú) with each of its parts in a different colour
图túdiagram
  • 囗enclosure · wéi
  • 冬part of the character

Memory aidSimplified from 圖. Picture a border 囗 drawn around the land: a map, a picture.

How to write 试图

试 8 strokes · 图 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 试图

Words with 试

考试kǎoshì · exam试shì · to try试卷shìjuàn · examination paper尝试chángshì · to try试验shìyàn · test

Words with 图

地图dìtú · map图书馆túshūguǎn · library图tú · picture企图qǐtú · to attempt图案tú'àn · pattern意图yìtú · intention

More words: Common Verbs

渗透shèntòu · to permeate拾shí · to pick up施加shījiā · to exert实施shíshī · to implement实行shíxíng · to put into practice施展shīzhǎn · to make full use of收藏shōucáng · to collect守护shǒuhù · to guard

FAQs

试图 (shìtú) means “to attempt” or “to try”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it shìtú: shì with a 4th tone, then tú with a 2nd 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, 试图 is written 試圖. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shitu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 试图 from the suggestions. Typing shitu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
试图 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.