HSK 4 · Verbs

相反 xiāngfǎn “opposite” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 相反 means

  1. opposite
  2. contrary

How to say 相反

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale相xiāng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale反fǎn3rd tone, dipping

相反 in a sentence

  1. 他们往相反的方向去。

    Tāmen wǎng xiāngfǎn de fāngxiàng qù.

    They went in opposite directions.

    Sentence #781114 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 他既诚实又勤劳，而他的弟弟正好相反。

    Tā jì chéngshí yòu qínláo, ér tā de dìdi zhènghǎo xiāngfǎn.

    He is honest and hard-working, but his brother is the exact opposite.

    Sentence #464917 from Tatoeba

  3. 正好相反，我从没说过这样的话。

    Zhènghǎo xiāngfǎn, wǒ cóng méi shuōguo zhèyàng de huà.

    Quite the opposite — I’ve never said anything like that.

    Sentence #1470285 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 相反 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 相 (xiāng) with each of its parts in a different colour
相xiāngeach other
  • 木tree · mù
  • 目eye · mù

Memory aidAn eye 目 looking at a tree 木: to look at, and so “each other”.

The character 反 (fǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
反fǎncontrary
  • 厂cliff · hǎn
  • 又again · yòu

How to write 相反

相 9 strokes · 反 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 相反

Words with 相

相信xiāngxìn · to believe照相zhàoxiàng · to take a photo相机xiàngjī · camera照相机zhàoxiàngjī · camera相同xiāngtóng · the same互相hùxiāng · each other相处xiāngchǔ · to get along (with someone)相似xiāngsì · similar相当xiāngdāng · equivalent to相对xiāngduì · relatively

Words with 反

反对fǎnduì · to oppose反映fǎnyìng · to reflect反应fǎnyìng · to react违反wéifǎn · to violate (a law)反而fǎn'ér · on the contrary反复fǎnfù · repeatedly反正fǎnzhèng · anyway反驳fǎnbó · to refute反思fǎnsī · to reflect on反问fǎnwèn · to ask a rhetorical question

More words: Common Verbs

污染wūrǎn · to pollute无wú · not to have修理xiūlǐ · to repair吸引xīyǐn · to attract响xiǎng · echo行xíng · OK醒xǐng · to wake up兴奋xīngfèn · excited

FAQs

相反 (xiāngfǎn) means “opposite” or “contrary”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it xiāngfǎn: xiāng with a 1st tone, then fǎn with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 相反 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiangfan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 相反 from the suggestions. Typing xiangfan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
相反 is an HSK 4 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.