HSK 6 · Verbs

挖掘 wājué “to dig” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 挖掘 means

  1. to dig
  2. to excavate
  3. to unearth
  4. (lit and fig.) to unearth
  5. to dig into

How to say 挖掘

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale挖wā1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale掘jué2nd tone, rising

挖掘 in a sentence

  1. 工人们正在挖掘一条新的隧道。

    Gōngrénmen zhèngzài wājué yì tiáo xīn de suìdào.

    Workers are digging a new tunnel.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 老师善于挖掘每个学生的潜力。

    Lǎoshī shànyú wājué měi ge xuésheng de qiánlì.

    The teacher is good at bringing out each student’s potential.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 挖掘 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 挖 (wā) with each of its parts in a different colour
挖wāto dig
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒu
  • 穵a deep hollow · wā
The character 掘 (jué) with each of its parts in a different colour
掘juéto dig
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 屈to bend · qūSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 屈 (qū) hints at the sound. Compare it with jué.

How to write 挖掘

挖 9 strokes · 掘 11 strokes

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

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

Words related to 挖掘

More words: Common Verbs

涂抹túmǒ · to smear脱离tuōlí · to break away from拖延tuōyán · to delay瓦解wǎjiě · to collapse完毕wánbì · to finish挽回wǎnhuí · to retrieve挽救wǎnjiù · to save玩弄wánnòng · to play with

FAQs

挖掘 (wājué) means “to dig” or “to excavate”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it wājué: wā with a 1st tone, then jué with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 挖掘 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type wajue with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 挖掘 from the suggestions. Typing wajue into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
挖掘 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.