HSK 6 · Ideas

线索 xiànsuǒ “clue” in Chinese

Traditional 線索

What 线索 means

  1. clue
  2. lead
  3. thread (of a story)
  4. trail
  5. clues

How to say 线索

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale线xiàn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale索suǒ3rd tone, dipping

线索 in a sentence

  1. 这封信是揭开谜团的唯一线索。

    Zhè fēng xìn shì jiēkāi mítuán de wéiyī xiànsuǒ.

    This letter is the only clue to the mystery.

    Sentence #678941 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 线索 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 线 (xiàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
线xiànthread
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 戋small · jiānSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 戋 (jiān) hints at the sound. Compare it with xiàn.

The character 索 (suǒ) with each of its parts in a different colour
索suǒto search
  • 十ten · shí
  • 冖cover · mì
  • 糸silk · mì

How to write 线索

线 8 strokes · 索 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 线索

Words with 线

占线zhànxiàn · busy (telephone line)视线shìxiàn · line of sight

Words with 索

搜索sōusuǒ · to search (online)思索sīsuǒ · to ponder索取suǒqǔ · to ask for探索tànsuǒ · to explore摸索mōsuǒ · to grope索性suǒxìng · might as well

More words: Ideas & Concepts

威信wēixìn · prestige相差xiāngchà · to differ相辅相成xiāngfǔxiāngchéng · to complement each other陷阱xiànjǐng · trap现状xiànzhuàng · current situation系列xìliè · series形态xíngtài · form信念xìnniàn · belief

FAQs

线索 (xiànsuǒ) means “clue” or “lead”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it xiànsuǒ: xiàn with a 4th tone, then suǒ with a 3rd 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, 线索 is written 線索. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiansuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 线索 from the suggestions. Typing xiansuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
线索 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.