Skip to content
BishuРусскийTrain

说 — to speak; to talk; to say

to speak; to talk; to say; to explain; to comment

Pinyin
shuō · shuì
Strokes
9
HSK level
HSK 1
Handwriting
required

This character has more than one reading — shuō, shuì — and the pronunciation depends on the word it appears in. The list below gives the syllabus reading for each word.

How to write 说: 9 strokes

Each cell adds one stroke to the previous ones, with the new stroke in red. Stroke order is not decoration: it sets the proportions of the character and makes handwriting legible to a reader. This character is on the HSK handwriting list, so the exam expects you to write it, not only recognise it.

说 — 9 strokes, in writing order from left to right.

Build a printable practice sheet with 说

Words with 说 in the HSK syllabus: 27

Every word in the official 2026 syllabus that contains this character, with the level it is introduced at. Learning a character pays off through these: each one combines with the characters you already know.

  1. 说shuōto speak; to talk; to say; to explain; to commentHSK 1
  2. 说话shuōhuàto speak; to say; to talk; to gossipHSK 1
  3. 听说tīngshuōto hear; one hears; hearsay; listening and speakingHSK 3
  4. 说法shuōfǎto expound Buddhist teachingsHSK 4
  5. 说明shuōmíngto explain; to illustrate; to indicate; to showHSK 4
  6. 说明书shuōmíngshūmanual; directions; synopsis; specificationHSK 4
  7. 小说xiǎoshuōnovel; fictionHSK 4
  8. 再说zàishuōto say again; to put off a discussion until laterHSK 4
  9. 传说chuánshuōlegend; folk taleHSK 5
  10. 据说jùshuōit is said that; reportedlyHSK 5
  11. 说不定shuōbudìngcan't say for sure; maybeHSK 5
  12. 说服shuōfúto persuade; to convince; to talk sb overHSK 5
  13. 解说jiěshuōto explain; to give a running commentaryHSK 6
  14. 按说ànshuōin the ordinary course of events; ordinarily; normallyHSK 7–9
  15. 别说biéshuōto say nothing of; not to mention; let aloneHSK 7–9
  16. 好说hǎoshuōeasy to deal with; not a problem; you flatter meHSK 7–9
  17. 胡说húshuōto talk nonsense; drivelHSK 7–9
  18. 劝说quànshuōto persuade; persuasion; to adviseHSK 7–9
  19. 实话实说shíhuà-shíshuōto tell the truth; to tell it as it isHSK 7–9
  20. 说不上shuōbushàngto be unable to say or tellHSK 7–9
  21. 说谎shuōhuǎngto lie; to tell an untruthHSK 7–9
  22. 说情shuōqíngto intercede; to plead for sb elseHSK 7–9
  23. 诉说sùshuōto recount; to tell of; to relateHSK 7–9
  24. 虽说suīshuōthough; althoughHSK 7–9
  25. 无话可说wúhuà-kěshuōto have nothing to sayHSK 7–9
  26. 学说xuéshuōtheory; doctrineHSK 7–9
  27. 演说yǎnshuōspeech; to deliver a speechHSK 7–9

Glosses come from CC-CEDICT, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, and are the dictionary’s first sense rather than a translation chosen for context.