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.
西xīwest
兀weak · wù
囗enclosure · wéi
Memory aidDrawn from a bird's nest. It was borrowed early on for “west”.
瓜guāmelon; gourd; squash
瓜 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
How to write 西瓜
西 6 strokes · 瓜 5 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 西瓜 (xīguā). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
西瓜 (xīguā) means “watermelon”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it xīguā: xī with a 1st tone, then guā with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 西瓜 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 颗 (kē). For example, one watermelon is 一颗西瓜 (yì kē xīguā).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xigua with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 西瓜 from the suggestions. Typing xigua into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
西瓜 is an HSK 2 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.
西xī1st tone, high and level
