HSK 5 · Verbs

说服 shuōfú “to persuade” in Chinese

Traditional 說服

What 说服 means

  1. to persuade
  2. to convince
  3. to talk sb over

How to say 说服

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale说shuō1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale服fú2nd tone, rising

说服 in a sentence

  1. 我说服他放弃了这个主意。

    Wǒ shuōfú tā fàngqì le zhè ge zhǔyi.

    I talked him out of the idea.

    Sentence #336728 from Tatoeba

  2. 我说服不了他们。

    Wǒ shuōfú bu liǎo tāmen.

    I can’t convince them.

    Sentence #5554543 from Tatoeba

  3. 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

How 说服 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 说 (shuō) with each of its parts in a different colour
说shuōto speak; to talk; to say
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 兑cash · duìSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 兑 (duì) hints at the sound. Compare it with shuō.

The character 服 (fú) with each of its parts in a different colour
服fúclothes
  • 月moon · yuè
  • 卩seal · jié
  • 又again · yòu

How to write 说服

说 9 strokes · 服 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 说服

Words with 说

说shuō · to speak说话shuōhuà · to speak听说tīngshuō · to hear (it said that)说明shuōmíng · to explain小说xiǎoshuō · novel胡说húshuō · to talk nonsense据说jùshuō · it is said that传说chuánshuō · legend说不定shuōbudìng · can’t say for sure学说xuéshuō · theory

Words with 服

衣服yīfu · clothes服务员fúwùyuán · waiter舒服shūfu · comfortable服务fúwù · to serve服装fúzhuāng · dress克服kèfú · to overcome (difficulties)佩服pèifú · to admire制服zhìfú · uniform服从fúcóng · to obey屈服qūfú · to yield

More words: Thinking & Talking

确认quèrèn · to confirm善于shànyú · to be good at实话shíhuà · truth说不定shuōbudìng · can’t say for sure思考sīkǎo · to reflect on思想sīxiǎng · thought谈判tánpàn · to negotiate提问tíwèn · to question

FAQs

说服 (shuōfú) means “to persuade” or “to convince”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it shuōfú: shuō with a 1st tone, then fú 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, 说服 is written 說服. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shuofu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 说服 from the suggestions. Typing shuofu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
说服 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.