HSK 3 · Places

洗手间 xǐshǒujiān “toilet” in Chinese

Said as xíshǒujiān

Traditional 洗手間

What 洗手间 means

  1. toilet
  2. lavatory
  3. washroom

How to say 洗手间

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale洗xǐ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale手shǒu3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale间jiān1st tone, high and level

Said as xíshǒujiān. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

洗手间 in a sentence

  1. 洗手间在哪里？

    Xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ?

    Where’s the toilet?

    Sentence #346667 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我去下洗手间。

    Wǒ qù xià xǐshǒujiān.

    I’m just going to the toilet.

    Sentence #5096722 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 洗手间的灯坏掉了。

    Xǐshǒujiān de dēng huàidiào le.

    The light in the toilet isn’t working.

    Sentence #8831906 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 洗手间 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 洗 (xǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
洗xǐto wash; to bathe
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 先first · xiānSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 先 (xiān) hints at the sound. Compare it with xǐ.

The character 手 (shǒu) drawn as one shape
手shǒuhand

手 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a hand with its fingers spread. On the left of a character it is written 扌.

The character 间 (jiān) with each of its parts in a different colour
间jiānbetween
  • 门gate · mén
  • 日sun · rì

Memory aidSunlight 日 coming through a gap in the gate 门: a gap, the space between, a room.

How to write 洗手间

洗 9 strokes · 手 4 strokes · 间 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 洗手间

Words with 洗

洗xǐ · to wash洗澡xǐzǎo · bathe洗衣机xǐyījī · washing machine

Words with 手

手shǒu · hand手表shǒubiǎo · watch手机shǒujī · mobile phone分手fēnshǒu · to break up手术shǒushù · (surgical) operation手指shǒuzhǐ · finger手套shǒutào · glove对手duìshǒu · opponent握手wòshǒu · to shake hands手工shǒugōng · handmade

Words with 间

间jiān · (measure word for rooms)时间shíjiān · time房间fángjiān · room中间zhōngjiān · middle之间zhījiān · between卫生间wèishēngjiān · bathroom期间qījiān · period of time空间kōngjiān · space间隔jiàngé · interval瞬间shùnjiān · instant

More words: Places & Directions

南nán · South世界shìjiè · world图书馆túshūguǎn · library西xī · West银行yínháng · bank中间zhōngjiān · middle中文Zhōngwén · Chinese language餐厅cāntīng · dining hall

FAQs

洗手间 (xǐshǒujiān) means “toilet” or “lavatory”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it xǐshǒujiān: xǐ with a 3rd tone, then shǒu with a 3rd tone, then jiān with a 1st tone. In speech it sounds like xíshǒujiān. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. 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, 洗手间 is written 洗手間. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xishoujian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 洗手间 from the suggestions. Typing xishoujian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
洗手间 is an HSK 3 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.