Listen, read, tap
Chinese Picture Quiz
A Chinese word is said and shown in characters and pinyin. Tap the picture it means — get it right and the English appears. 311 words with original pictures, four levels, and the board grows from four pictures to six the longer you last.
How to Play
Press Start and a Chinese word appears at the top of the board, in characters with its pinyin underneath, and is spoken aloud. Below it are four pictures. Tap the one the word means. A right answer bursts into colour and the English appears beside the word, so every question you get right is also a word you have now seen in all four forms — sound, characters, pinyin and meaning. A wrong answer costs one of your three lives, and the right picture lights up so the next time is easier.
Ten words make a round. Answer several in a row and a combo multiplier builds up to ×5. Every two rounds the board gets harder: harder words join the deal and the number of pictures grows from four to five, then six. There is no clock, because recognising a word by ear is the skill and listening twice is allowed — press the speaker or Space as often as you like. Hiding the pinyin is the one thing that earns a bonus.
Why Two Pictures Are Never Both Right
A picture quiz is only as good as its worst question. Put a plain steamed bun beside a stuffed bun, green tea beside oolong, or a calm face beside a contented one, and a player who knows the word perfectly well can still be marked wrong — and nothing on the screen tells them it was the board's fault.
So the pictures here are sorted into seven families — people, things to eat or drink, weather, numbers, animals, colours and clothes — and a board never holds two pictures from the same family. Two words that share a character never meet either, which keeps an apple away from apple juice and a hand away from a glove. A handful of pictures belong to two families at once, because of what they show: the word for sour is drawn as a lemon, and thirsty as someone holding a glass of water, so neither ever shares a board with food or drink.
Numbers are the one exception. Their pictures are dice and counting beads, and a count can only be right or wrong, so a number is asked against other numbers — which turns those questions into a quick counting test.
One Word From Each Rung
A word's rung is the HSK level of its hardest character, so the easiest rung is words a first-year learner can read and the top rung has the characters no HSK list teaches.
The Four Levels
| Level | What it changes | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Four pictures and everyday words. The word is said and shown with its pinyin. | ×1 |
| Intermediate | Five pictures and words up to HSK 3 characters, said and shown with pinyin. | ×2 |
| Advanced | Six pictures and words up to HSK 4. The word is said but its pinyin is hidden; peek, and that answer earns no bonus. | ×3 |
| Expert | Six pictures and every word, characters only: no pinyin and no sound until you answer. | ×4 |
The words on each rung. Every level climbs the same ladder; a level only decides where you start.
- Rung 1: everyday words (HSK 1–2 characters) — 106 words, 4 pictures a board
- Rung 2: words up to HSK 3 characters — 64 words, 5 pictures a board
- Rung 3: words up to HSK 4 characters — 53 words, 6 pictures a board
- Rung 4: every word, including characters beyond HSK 4 — 88 words, 6 pictures a board
Where the Words and Pictures Come From
Every picture is one of the site's own illustrated flashcards, and every reading and meaning comes from the site's dictionary exactly as the flashcard shows it. Missed a word? Its deck is the quickest way to learn the rest of the set:
- Weather · 24 pictures
- Numbers & Counting · 24 pictures
- Family & Relationships · 24 pictures
- Animals & Pets · 24 pictures
- Body Parts & Face · 24 pictures
- Food & Chinese Dishes · 24 pictures
- Chinese Colors & Cultural Meanings · 24 pictures
- Fruit & Vegetables · 24 pictures
- Everyday Verbs · 24 pictures
- Feelings & Emotions · 24 pictures
- Clothes, Shoes & Accessories · 24 pictures
- Drinks, Coffee & Tea · 23 pictures
- Restaurant & Menu Words · 24 pictures
Meanings marked † are from CC-CEDICT and are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; the rest are ThePureLanguage's own.
Questions
How does the Chinese Picture Quiz work?
A Chinese word appears in characters, usually with its pinyin, and is spoken aloud. Tap the picture it means. A right answer shows the English and adds to a combo multiplier; a wrong one costs one of three lives and shows you the right picture. Every ten words is a round, and every two rounds harder words and more pictures join the board.
Where do the words and pictures come from?
All 311 words are the site's own picture flashcards — 13 illustrated decks from animals and food to feelings and family — and every reading and meaning is resolved from the site's dictionary exactly as the flashcard shows it. Nothing was written for the game.
Why can't two pictures both be right?
Pictures of similar things never share a board. A board takes at most one picture from each of seven families — people, things to eat or drink, weather, numbers, animals, colours and clothes — so a bun is never beside another bun and a calm face is never beside a contented one. Two words that share a character never meet either, so an apple is never beside apple juice. Numbers are the one exception: a number is asked against other numbers, because a count of dots can only be right or wrong.
What do the four levels change?
Beginner deals four pictures and everyday words, spoken and shown with pinyin. Intermediate adds HSK 3 words and a fifth picture. Advanced deals six pictures and hides the pinyin. Expert shows characters only, with no sound until you answer. Harder levels multiply the score, and the words get harder the longer you play on any level.
Is it free?
Completely free, with no sign-up. Your best scores are kept in this browser only; posting to the leaderboard is optional and uses an automatically generated name.