HSK 5 · Adjectives

实用 shíyòng “practical” in Chinese

Traditional 實用

What 实用 means

  1. practical
  2. functional
  3. to apply in practice
  4. pragmatic
  5. applied (science)

How to say 实用

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale实shí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale用yòng4th tone, falling

实用 in a sentence

  1. 她给了我一些实用的建议。

    Tā gěi le wǒ yìxiē shíyòng de jiànyì.

    She gave me some practical advice.

    Sentence #805188 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 有一台笔记本电脑很实用。

    Yǒu yì tái bǐjìběn diànnǎo hěn shíyòng.

    Having a laptop is very handy.

    Sentence #502854 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 这不实用。

    Zhè bù shíyòng.

    It’s not practical.

    Sentence #2004699 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 实用 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 实 (shí) with each of its parts in a different colour
实shíreal
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 头head · tóu

Memory aidSimplified from 實, a house 宀 full of strings of coins: solid, real.

The character 用 (yòng) drawn as one shape
用yòngto use; to make use of; to employ

用 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 实用

实 8 strokes · 用 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 实用

Words with 实

其实qíshí · actually诚实chéngshí · honest实际shíjì · actual确实quèshí · indeed实在shízài · really实际上shíjìshàng · in fact果实guǒshí · fruit (of a plant)实话shíhuà · truth实现shíxiàn · to achieve结实jiēshi · sturdy

Words with 用

用yòng · to use不用búyòng · no need to有用yǒuyòng · useful常用chángyòng · commonly used信用卡xìnyòngkǎ · credit card使用shǐyòng · to use作用zuòyòng · effect利用lìyòng · to make use of应用yìngyòng · to put to use运用yùnyòng · to use

More words: Adjectives

深刻shēnkè · profound神秘shénmì · mysterious生动shēngdòng · vivid时髦shímáo · in vogue舒适shūshì · cosy熟练shúliàn · practised丝毫sīháo · the slightest amount or degree私人sīrén · private

FAQs

实用 (shíyòng) means “practical” or “functional”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it shíyòng: shí with a 2nd tone, then yòng 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, 实用 is written 實用. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shiyong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 实用 from the suggestions. Typing shiyong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
实用 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.