HSK 5 · Verbs

思考 sīkǎo “to reflect on” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 思考 means

  1. to reflect on
  2. to ponder over

How to say 思考

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale思sī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale考kǎo3rd tone, dipping

思考 in a sentence

  1. 你在说话前应该先思考。

    Nǐ zài shuōhuà qián yīnggāi xiān sīkǎo.

    You should think before you speak.

    Sentence #530712 from Tatoeba

  2. 他正在思考这个难题。

    Tā zhèngzài sīkǎo zhè ge nántí.

    He’s thinking over this tough problem.

    Sentence #3702568 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我喜欢你思考的方法。

    Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ sīkǎo de fāngfǎ.

    I like the way you think.

    Sentence #3158528 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 思考 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 思 (sī) with each of its parts in a different colour
思sīto think
  • 田field · tián
  • 心heart · xīn

Memory aidA head 田 (once a drawing of the skull) above the heart 心: to think.

The character 考 (kǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
考kǎoto beat
  • 耂old form of 老 · lǎoMeaning part
  • 丂part of the characterSound part

Memory aid考 and 老 share the top 耂 and once both meant “old”. Today 考 means to test.

How to write 思考

思 9 strokes · 考 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 思考

Words with 思

意思yìsi · meaning没意思méiyìsi · boring有意思yǒuyìsi · interesting不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed思想sīxiǎng · thought沉思chénsī · to ponder反思fǎnsī · to reflect on构思gòusī · to conceive (an idea or plot)思索sīsuǒ · to ponder思念sīniàn · to miss

Words with 考

考kǎo · to take an exam考试kǎoshì · exam考虑kǎolǜ · to think over参考cānkǎo · to consult考察kǎochá · to investigate考古kǎogǔ · archaeology考核kǎohé · to assess考验kǎoyàn · to test

More words: Thinking & Talking

善于shànyú · to be good at实话shíhuà · truth说不定shuōbudìng · can’t say for sure说服shuōfú · to persuade思想sīxiǎng · thought谈判tánpàn · to negotiate提问tíwèn · to question体会tǐhuì · to know from experience

FAQs

思考 (sīkǎo) means “to reflect on” or “to ponder over”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it sīkǎo: sī with a 1st tone, then kǎo with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 思考 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type sikao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 思考 from the suggestions. Typing sikao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
思考 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.