HSK 6 · Verbs

吞吞吐吐 tūntūntǔtǔ “to hum and haw” in Chinese

Said as tūntūntútǔ

Same in Traditional

What 吞吞吐吐 means

  1. to hum and haw
  2. to hesitate in speaking
  3. to hum and haw (idiom)
  4. to mumble as if hiding sth
  5. to speak and break off, then start again
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to hold sth back

How to say 吞吞吐吐

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale吞tūn1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale吞tūn1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale吐tǔ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale吐tǔ3rd tone, dipping

Said as tūntūntútǔ. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

吞吞吐吐 in a sentence

  1. 有话就直说，别吞吞吐吐的。

    Yǒu huà jiù zhí shuō, bié tūntūntǔtǔ de.

    If you have something to say, just say it; don’t beat around the bush.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 问他为什么迟到，他吞吞吐吐说不清楚。

    Wèn tā wèishénme chídào, tā tūntūntǔtǔ shuō bu qīngchu.

    When asked why he was late, he hummed and hawed and couldn’t explain.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 吞吞吐吐 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 吞 (tūn) with each of its parts in a different colour
吞tūnto swallow
  • 天sky · tiānSound part
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 天 (tiān) hints at the sound. Compare it with tūn.

The character 吞 (tūn) with each of its parts in a different colour
吞tūnto swallow
  • 天sky · tiānSound part
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 天 (tiān) hints at the sound. Compare it with tūn.

The character 吐 (tǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
吐tǔto spit
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 土earth · tǔSound part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 土 (tǔ) hints at the sound. Compare it with tǔ.

The character 吐 (tǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
吐tǔto spit
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 土earth · tǔSound part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 土 (tǔ) hints at the sound. Compare it with tǔ.

How to write 吞吞吐吐

吞 7 strokes · 吐 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 吞吞吐吐

Words with 吞

狼吞虎咽lángtūnhǔyàn · to wolf down (food)

Words with 吐

吐tǔ · to spit (out)呕吐ǒutù · to vomit

More words: Thinking & Talking

提示tíshì · to prompt提议tíyì · to propose透露tòulù · to reveal推测tuīcè · to speculate妥协tuǒxié · to compromise歪曲wāiqū · to distort妄想wàngxiǎng · wishful thinking慰问wèiwèn · to express sympathy

FAQs

吞吞吐吐 (tūntūntǔtǔ) means “to hum and haw” or “to hesitate in speaking”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it tūntūntǔtǔ: tūn with a 1st tone, then tūn with a 1st tone, then tǔ with a 3rd tone, then tǔ with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like tūntūntútǔ. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 吞吞吐吐 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type tuntuntutu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 吞吞吐吐 from the suggestions. Typing tuntuntutu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
吞吞吐吐 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.