HSK 1 · Common Verbs

写 xiě “to write” in Chinese

Traditional 寫

What 写 means

  1. to write

How to say 写

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale写xiě3rd tone, dipping

写 in a sentence

  1. 我已经会写中文了。

    Wǒ yǐjīng huì xiě Zhōngwén le.

    I can already write in Chinese.

    Sentence #717388 from Tatoeba

  2. 你们在写什么？

    Nǐmen zài xiě shénme?

    What’re you writing?

    Sentence #4761381 from Tatoeba

  3. 我们写汉字也非常好。

    Wǒmen xiě hànzì yě fēicháng hǎo.

    We also write Chinese characters very well.

    Sentence #3378117 from Tatoeba

How 写 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 写 (xiě) with each of its parts in a different colour
写xiěto write
  • 冖cover · mì
  • 与and · yǔ

How to write 写

写 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 写

Words with 写

描写miáoxiě · to describe写作xiězuò · writing

More words: Common Verbs

看kàn · to look听tīng · to listen说shuō · to speak读dú · to read认识rènshi · to know (someone)喜欢xǐhuan · to like想xiǎng · to want做zuò · to do

FAQs

写 (xiě) means “to write”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it xiě: xiě 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, 写 is written 寫. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 写 from the suggestions. Typing xie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
写 is an HSK 1 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.