HSK 1 · Places

中国 Zhōngguó “China” in Chinese

Traditional 中國

What 中国 means

  1. China

How to say 中国

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale中Zhōng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale国guó2nd tone, rising

中国 in a sentence

  1. 你喜欢中国菜吗？

    Nǐ xǐhuan Zhōngguó cài ma?

    Do you like Chinese food?

    Sentence #10192331 from Tatoeba

  2. 我有一个中国朋友。

    Wǒ yǒu yí ge Zhōngguó péngyou.

    I have a Chinese friend.

    Sentence #6055121 from Tatoeba

  3. 他想在中国工作两年。

    Tā xiǎng zài Zhōngguó gōngzuò liǎng nián.

    He wants to work in China for two years.

    Sentence #3378249 from Tatoeba

How 中国 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 中 (zhōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
中zhōngwithin; among; inZhōng in 中国
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 丨line · gǔn

Memory aidA line 丨 through the centre of a box 口: the middle.

The character 国 (guó) with each of its parts in a different colour
国guócountry; nation; state
  • 囗enclosure · wéi
  • 玉jade · yù

Memory aidTreasure 玉 kept inside a country’s borders 囗.

How to write 中国

中 4 strokes · 国 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 中国

Words with 中

中午zhōngwǔ · noon中学zhōngxué · middle school中学生zhōngxuéshēng · middle-school student高中gāozhōng · senior high school中zhōng · middle中间zhōngjiān · middle中文Zhōngwén · Chinese language初中chūzhōng · junior high school其中qízhōng · among中旬zhōngxún · middle third of a month

Words with 国

国guó · country出国chūguó · to go abroad外国wàiguó · foreign (country)国家guójiā · country国际guójì · international国籍guójí · nationality国王guówáng · king国庆节Guóqìngjié · PRC National Day (October 1st)祖国zǔguó · homeland国防guófáng · national defence

More words: Places & Directions

北京Běijīng · Beijing家jiā · home学校xuéxiào · school饭店fàndiàn · restaurant长江Cháng Jiāng · Yangtze River邮局yóujú · post office周围zhōuwéi · environs座位zuòwèi · seat

FAQs

中国 (Zhōngguó) means “China”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it Zhōngguó: Zhōng with a 1st tone, then guó with a 2nd 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, 中国 is written 中國. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhongguo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 中国 from the suggestions. Typing zhongguo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
中国 is an HSK 1 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.