HSK 2 · Common Verbs

知道 zhīdao “to know (a fact)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 知道 means

  1. to know (a fact)
  2. to know
  3. to become aware of

How to say 知道

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale知zhī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own道daoneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

知道 in a sentence

  1. 我知道他叫什么名字。

    Wǒ zhīdao tā jiào shénme míngzi.

    I know what his name is.

    Sentence #390853 from Tatoeba

  2. 你知道他们什么时候到吗？

    Nǐ zhīdao tāmen shénme shíhou dào ma?

    Do you know when they will arrive?

    Sentence #1438397 from Tatoeba

  3. 我不知道怎么去那儿。

    Wǒ bù zhīdao zěnme qù nàr.

    I don’t know how to get there.

    Sentence #472890 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 知道 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 知 (zhī) with each of its parts in a different colour
知zhīto know
  • 矢arrow · shǐSound part
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 矢 (shǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhī.

The character 道 (dào) with each of its parts in a different colour
道dàoroad; path 条,股)light in 知道
  • 首head · shǒuSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 首 (shǒu) hints at the sound. Compare it with dao.

Memory aidPicture walking 辶 with your head 首 leading the way: a road, a way.

How to write 知道

知 8 strokes · 道 12 strokes

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

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

Words related to 知道

Words with 知

通知tōngzhī · to notify知识zhīshi · knowledge知觉zhījué · perception无知wúzhī · ignorant须知xūzhī · notice知足常乐zhīzúchánglè · contentment brings happiness众所周知zhòngsuǒzhōuzhī · as everyone knows

Words with 道

街道jiēdào · street道dào · (m.w. for orders味道wèidao · flavour道歉dàoqiàn · to apologise难道nándào · don’t tell me …报道bàodào · to report (news)地道dìdao · authentic道德dàodé · virtue频道píndào · frequency道理dàoli · reason

More words: Common Verbs

旅游lǚyóu · to travel游泳yóuyǒng · to swim完wán · to finish准备zhǔnbèi · to prepare觉得juéde · to feel希望xīwàng · to hope告诉gàosu · to tell问wèn · to ask

FAQs

知道 (zhīdao) means “to know (a fact)” or “to know”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it zhīdao: zhī with a 1st tone, then dao with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 知道 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhidao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 知道 from the suggestions. Typing zhidao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
知道 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.