HSK 5 · Verbs

围绕 wéirào “to revolve around” in Chinese

Traditional 圍繞

What 围绕 means

  1. to revolve around
  2. to centre on (an issue)

How to say 围绕

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale围wéi2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale绕rào4th tone, falling

围绕 in a sentence

  1. 这个词后来被用来指代围绕大天体的小天体。

    Zhè ge cí hòulái bèi yònglái zhǐdài wéirào dà tiāntǐ de xiǎo tiāntǐ.

    The word later came to be used for small celestial bodies that revolve around larger ones.

    Sentence #13881251 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我被各国语言及文字的爱好者所围绕。

    Wǒ bèi gèguó yǔyán jí wénzì de àihàozhě suǒ wéirào.

    I’m surrounded by people who love languages and writing systems.

    Sentence #816820 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 围绕 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 围 (wéi) with each of its parts in a different colour
围wéito encircle
  • 囗enclosure · wéiMeaning part
  • 韦tanned leather · wéiSound part

囗 hints at the meaning (enclosure); 韦 (wéi) hints at the sound. Compare it with wéi.

The character 绕 (rào) with each of its parts in a different colour
绕ràoto wind
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 尧a legendary ancient emperor-sage · YáoSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 尧 (Yáo) hints at the sound. Compare it with rào.

How to write 围绕

围 7 strokes · 绕 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 围绕

Words with 围

周围zhōuwéi · environs围巾wéijīn · scarf范围fànwéi · range包围bāowéi · to surround

Words with 绕

绕rào · to wind缠绕chánrào · to wind around

More words: Common Verbs

退步tuìbù · to regress往返wǎngfǎn · to go back and forth危害wēihài · to harm威胁wēixié · to threaten维修wéixiū · to repair闻wén · to smell握手wòshǒu · to shake hands限制xiànzhì · to restrict

FAQs

围绕 (wéirào) means “to revolve around” or “to centre on (an issue)”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it wéirào: wéi with a 2nd tone, then rào with a 4th 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, 围绕 is written 圍繞. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type weirao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 围绕 from the suggestions. Typing weirao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
围绕 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.