HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Action

选 xuǎn “to choose” in Chinese

Traditional 選

What 选 means

  1. to choose
  2. to elect
  3. to pick
  4. to select

How to say 选

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale选xuǎn3rd tone, dipping

选 in a sentence

  1. 你为什么选这首歌？

    Nǐ wèishénme xuǎn zhè shǒu gē?

    Why did you pick this song?

    Sentence #9433045 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我想给我朋友选个礼物。

    Wǒ xiǎng gěi wǒ péngyou xuǎn ge lǐwù.

    I want to pick out a present for my friend.

    Sentence #10005769 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 从这些里选一个。

    Cóng zhèxiē lǐ xuǎn yí ge.

    Choose one of these.

    Sentence #9478791 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 选 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 选 (xuǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
选xuǎnto choose
  • 先first · xiānSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 先 (xiān) hints at the sound. Compare it with xuǎn.

How to write 选

选 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 选

Words with 选

选择xuǎnzé · select选手xuǎnshǒu · competitor筛选shāixuǎn · to screen选拔xuǎnbá · to select (the best)当选dāngxuǎn · to be elected候选hòuxuǎn · candidate竞选jìngxuǎn · to run for office选举xuǎnjǔ · to elect

More words: Action & Change Verbs

见到jiàndào · to see变biàn · to change加jiā · to add办bàn · to handle查chá · to check做到zuòdào · to accomplish带来dàilái · to bring (about)求qiú · to seek

FAQs

选 (xuǎn) means “to choose” or “to elect”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it xuǎn: xuǎn 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, 选 is written 選. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 选 from the suggestions. Typing xuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
选 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 3 word list. It is not on the older 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.