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.
小xiǎosmall
亅hook · jué
八eight · bā
Memory aidThree small strokes, like grains: small.
说shuōto speak; to talk; to say
讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
兑cash · duìSound part
讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 兑 (duì) hints at the sound. Compare it with shuō.
How to write 小说
小 3 strokes · 说 9 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 小说 (xiǎoshuō). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
小说 (xiǎoshuō) means “novel” or “fiction”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it xiǎoshuō: xiǎo with a 3rd tone, then shuō with a 1st 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, 小说 is written 小說. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 本 (běn) or 部 (bù). For example, one novel is 一本小说 (yì běn xiǎoshuō).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiaoshuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 小说 from the suggestions. Typing xiaoshuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
小说 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.
小xiǎo3rd tone, dipping
说shuō1st tone, high and level
