say in Chinese

How to write 说

Animated stroke order — tap a character to replay. Look up any character's stroke order → Printable writing worksheet for 说 →

说 is listed in the official HSK vocabulary at HSK 1. The beginner band covers the first, most essential words every learner needs.

说 in a sentence

• 请qǐng再zài说shuō一yī遍biàn。

  Please say it again.

• 他tā会huì说shuō中zhōng文wén和hé英yīng文wén。

  He can speak Chinese and English.

• 你nǐ在zài说shuō什shén么me？

  What are you saying?

说 vs 讲 vs 谈 vs 告诉

Similar and easily confused words, and how they differ.

• 讲 jiǎng to speak; to tell

  More formal than 说 and common in the south: 讲话 'give a talk', 讲故事 'tell a story'. Also 'to explain': 讲解.

• 谈 tán to talk; to discuss

  A two-way conversation about a topic: 谈话 'converse', 谈生意 'talk business'. 说 is one-way speaking.

• 告诉 gào su to tell (someone)

  Takes the listener as object: 告诉我 'tell me'. 说 alone doesn't address a named person.