礼尚往来

礼尚往来 lǐshàngwǎnglái

Lit. proper behavior is based on reciprocity (idiom); fig. to return politeness for politeness^†

礼尚往来 in a sentence HSK 6 繁體禮尚往來 lishangwanglai

What 礼尚往来 means

Lit. proper behavior is based on reciprocity (idiom)^†
fig. to return politeness for politeness^†

† Our own dictionary has no entry for 礼尚往来, so these meanings are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG and its contributors and based on CEDICT © 1997, 1998 Paul Andrew Denisowski, and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Character by character

礼尚往来 is written with 4 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

礼

lǐ

Ceremony (courtesy - gift - present)

尚

shàng

Esteem (value - still - yet)

往

wǎng / wàng

Towards (to go - past - previous); Bound for

来

lái

Come (arrive)

Words that share a character with 礼尚往来

How to write 礼尚往来

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

礼尚往来 in a sentence

中国人讲究礼尚往来。

Zhōngguórén jiǎngjiu lǐshàngwǎnglái.

Chinese people set store by reciprocal courtesy.

他送了礼物，我也该回礼，礼尚往来嘛。

Tā sòng le lǐwù, wǒ yě gāi huílǐ, lǐshàngwǎnglái ma.

He gave a gift, so I should give one back — courtesy calls for reciprocity.

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

Questions about 礼尚往来

What does 礼尚往来 mean in English?

礼尚往来 is pronounced lǐshàngwǎnglái and means Lit. proper behavior is based on reciprocity (idiom), fig. to return politeness for politeness †.

How do you pronounce 礼尚往来?

礼尚往来 is lǐshàngwǎnglái in pinyin — written lishangwanglai without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 礼尚往来?

礼尚往来 is written with 4 characters: 礼 (lǐ) Ceremony (courtesy - gift - present), 尚 (shàng) Esteem (value - still - yet), 往 (wǎng / wàng) Towards (to go - past - previous); Bound for, 来 (lái) Come (arrive). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

How is 礼尚往来 written in traditional Chinese?

禮尚往來. The simplified form 礼尚往来 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 禮尚往來 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced lǐshàngwǎnglái.

Is 礼尚往来 an HSK word?

Yes — 礼尚往来 is on the official HSK 6 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 6 page.

Studied around the same time

冷却 lěngquè 愣 lèng 黎明 límíng 礼节 lǐjié 里程碑 lǐchéngbēi 理睬 lǐcǎi 理所当然 lǐsuǒdāngrán 理直气壮 lǐzhíqìzhuàng

Keep going

Translate a whole sentence containing 礼尚往来 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 6, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

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