HSK 6 · Verbs

探望 tànwàng “to visit (esp. someone ill or elderly)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 探望 means

  1. to visit (esp. someone ill or elderly)
  2. to call on
  3. to visit
  4. to call on sb
  5. to look around

How to say 探望

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale探tàn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale望wàng4th tone, falling

探望 in a sentence

  1. 我的叔叔们有时会来探望我。

    Wǒ de shūshumen yǒushí huì lái tànwàng wǒ.

    My uncles sometimes come to visit me.

    Sentence #3701783 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 我已经很久没有探望过祖母了。

    Wǒ yǐjīng hěn jiǔ méiyǒu tànwàng guo zǔmǔ le.

    It’s been a long time since I visited my grandmother.

    Sentence #505728 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 海伦每个星期天探望她的叔叔。

    Hǎilún měi ge xīngqītiān tànwàng tā de shūshu.

    Helen visits her uncle every Sunday.

    Sentence #849009 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 探望 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 探 (tàn) drawn as one shape
探tànto explore

探 is a single shape of 11 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

The character 望 (wàng) with each of its parts in a different colour
望wàngfull moon
  • 亡death · wáng
  • 月moon · yuè
  • 王king · wáng

Memory aidA person standing gazing at the moon 月 far away: to gaze, to hope.

How to write 探望

探 11 strokes · 望 11 strokes

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

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

Words related to 探望

Words with 探

探索tànsuǒ · to explore探讨tàntǎo · to discuss侦探zhēntàn · detective勘探kāntàn · to explore探测tàncè · to detect

Words with 望

希望xīwàng · to hope失望shīwàng · disappointed盼望pànwàng · to hope for看望kànwàng · to visit愿望yuànwàng · desire绝望juéwàng · to despair渴望kěwàng · to long for期望qīwàng · to expect欲望yùwàng · desire指望zhǐwàng · to count on

More words: Common Verbs

耸sǒng · to shrug损坏sǔnhuài · to damage塑造sùzào · to shape塌tā · to collapse掏tāo · to take out (from a pocket)淘汰táotài · to eliminate舔tiǎn · to lick调和tiáohé · to reconcile

FAQs

探望 (tànwàng) means “to visit (esp. someone ill or elderly)” or “to call on”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it tànwàng: tàn with a 4th tone, then wàng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 探望 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type tanwang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 探望 from the suggestions. Typing tanwang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
探望 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.