Sentence #4265177 from Tatoeba · translation adapted
How 刷牙 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.
刷shuāa brush
尸corpse · shī
巾napkin · jīn
刂knife form of 刀 · dāo
Memory aidPicture a cloth 巾 and a blade 刂 used to scrape and scrub something clean: to brush.
牙yátooth
牙 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
Memory aidDrawn from upper and lower teeth meeting: tooth.
How to write 刷牙
刷 8 strokes · 牙 4 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 刷牙 (shuāyá). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
刷牙 (shuāyá) means “brush one’s teeth”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it shuāyá: shuā with a 1st tone, then yá with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 刷牙 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shuaya with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 刷牙 from the suggestions. Typing shuaya into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
刷牙 is an HSK 3 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.