成语

成语 chéngyǔ

Idiom

成语 in a sentence HSK 5 繁體成語 chengyu

What 成语 means

Idiom

These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 成语 will read it the same way this page does.

Recognise a piece of 成语 but not the character it belongs to? Pick the parts in the component character finder and it will name the character for you — free for every character, with nothing to sign in to.

Character by character

成语 is written with 2 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

成

chèng

Become (accomplish - completed)

语

yǔ / yù

Language (dialect - speech); To tell

Words that share a character with 成语

How to write 成语

Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.

Practise 成语 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.

成语 in a sentence

这个成语我第一次听说。

Zhège chéngyǔ wǒ dì yī cì tīngshuō.

This is the first time I have heard this idiom.

学成语要知道它的故事。

Xué chéngyǔ yào zhīdào tā de gùshi.

To learn an idiom you need to know its story.

Every sentence on this site that uses 成语 is collected on the 成语 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.

Questions about 成语

What does 成语 mean in English?

成语 is pronounced chéngyǔ and means Idiom.

How do you pronounce 成语?

成语 is chéngyǔ in pinyin — written chengyu without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 成语?

成语 is written with 2 characters: 成 (chèng) Become (accomplish - completed), 语 (yǔ / yù) Language (dialect - speech); To tell. Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

How is 成语 written in traditional Chinese?

成語. The simplified form 成语 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 成語 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced chéngyǔ.

Is 成语 an HSK word?

Yes — 成语 is on the official HSK 5 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 5 page.

Studied around the same time

成就 chéngjiù 成立 chénglì 成人 chéngrén 成熟 chéngshú 成长 chéngzhǎng 诚恳 chéngkěn 承担 chéngdān 承认 chéngrèn

Keep going

Translate a whole sentence containing 成语 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 5, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

Browse the dictionary

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