HSK 6 · Media

序言 xùyán “preface” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 序言 means

  1. preface
  2. foreword
  3. introductory remarks
  4. preamble
  5. prelude

How to say 序言

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale序xù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale言yán2nd tone, rising

序言 in a sentence

  1. 这本书的序言是他的老师写的。

    Zhè běn shū de xùyán shì tā de lǎoshī xiě de.

    The preface to this book was written by his teacher.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 你可以先看看序言。

    Nǐ kěyǐ xiān kànkan xùyán.

    You can read the foreword first.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 序言 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 序 (xù) with each of its parts in a different colour
序xùorder; sequence
  • 广shelter · guǎngMeaning part
  • 予to give · yúSound part

广 hints at the meaning (shelter); 予 (yú) hints at the sound. Compare it with xù.

The character 言 (yán) with each of its parts in a different colour
言yánwords
  • 亠lid · tóu
  • 二two · èr
  • 口mouth · kǒu

How to write 序言

序 7 strokes · 言 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 序言

Words with 序

顺序shùnxù · sequence秩序zhìxù · order (orderly state)程序chéngxù · procedures次序cìxù · order循序渐进xúnxùjiànjìn · to progress step by step

Words with 言

语言yǔyán · language发言fāyán · to make a speech预言yùyán · to predict方言fāngyán · dialect言论yánlùn · speech谣言yáoyán · rumour寓言yùyán · fable不言而喻bùyán'éryù · self-evident总而言之zǒng'éryánzhī · in short

More words: Media & Arts

肖像xiàoxiàng · portrait绣xiù · to embroider旋律xuánlǜ · melody悬念xuánniàn · suspense演奏yǎnzòu · to perform (on an instrument)摇滚yáogǔn · rock music乐谱yuèpǔ · sheet music舆论yúlùn · public opinion

FAQs

序言 (xùyán) means “preface” or “foreword”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it xùyán: xù with a 4th tone, then yán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 序言 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xuyan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 序言 from the suggestions. Typing xuyan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
序言 is an HSK 6 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.