HSK 5 · Verbs

行动 xíngdòng “to act” in Chinese

Traditional 行動

What 行动 means

  1. to act
  2. to take action
  3. action
  4. operation
  5. to move about
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • mobile

Measure word 个 gè · 一个行动 yí ge xíngdòng

How to say 行动

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale行xíng2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale动dòng4th tone, falling

行动 in a sentence

  1. 现在是行动的时候了。

    Xiànzài shì xíngdòng de shíhou le.

    Now is the time to act.

    Sentence #333240 from Tatoeba

  2. 知道和行动是两回事。

    Zhīdao hé xíngdòng shì liǎng huí shì.

    Knowing and doing are two different things.

    Sentence #3630322 from Tatoeba

  3. 为了避免情况恶化，我们马上采取了行动。

    Wèile bìmiǎn qíngkuàng èhuà, wǒmen mǎshàng cǎiqǔ le xíngdòng.

    We took action straight away so that things wouldn’t get worse.

    Sentence #534264 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 行动 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 行 (háng) with each of its parts in a different colour
行xíngto walk; to go; to travel
  • 彳step · chì
  • 亍to take small steps · chù

Memory aidDrawn from a crossroads: to walk, to go. It also means a row or line (háng).

The character 动 (dòng) with each of its parts in a different colour
动dòngto move
  • 云cloud · yún
  • 力strength · lìMeaning part

Memory aidStrength 力 makes things move. In the full form 動, 重 (zhòng) gave the sound.

How to write 行动

行 6 strokes · 动 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 行动

Words with 行

银行yínháng · bank不行bùxíng · won’t do行李xíngli · luggage行李箱xínglǐxiāng · trunk自行车zìxíngchē · bike银行卡yínhángkǎ · bank card行xíng · OK进行jìnxíng · to advance流行liúxíng · popular举行jǔxíng · to hold (a meeting

Words with 动

动dòng · to move运动yùndòng · to exercise动物dòngwù · animal动物园dòngwùyuán · zoo运动员yùndòngyuán · athlete运动会yùndònghuì · sports meet活动huódòng · activity感动gǎndòng · to be moved激动jīdòng · excited动作dòngzuò · movement

More words: Common Verbs

相处xiāngchǔ · to get along (with someone)享受xiǎngshòu · to enjoy消失xiāoshī · to disappear歇xiē · to rest形成xíngchéng · to form休闲xiūxián · leisure修改xiūgǎi · to amend寻找xúnzhǎo · to seek

FAQs

行动 (xíngdòng) means “to act” or “to take action”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it xíngdòng: xíng with a 2nd tone, then dòng with a 4th 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, 行动 is written 行動. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one to act is 一个行动 (yí ge xíngdòng).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xingdong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 行动 from the suggestions. Typing xingdong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
行动 is an HSK 5 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.