鲨鱼
shāyú
The English word shark is translated into Chinese as 鲨鱼 (shāyú).
鲨鱼 is the standard term used to refer to the predatory fish known as a shark. In an informal context, you may encounter the term 鲨鱼宝宝 to mean baby shark.
Meaning: fish (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word 鲨鱼 is composed of two parts: 鲨, which means shark and 鱼, which means fish.
How does it change in a sentence?
As a noun in Chinese, 鲨鱼 does not change its form to indicate plurality.
How do you pronounce it?
shāyú
Did you know?
- If you are looking for shark fin soup in a restaurant, you might see it listed as 鱼翅, which translates to 'fish fins' rather than using the word for shark.
- The character 鲨 is a phono-semantic compound, meaning part of the word is used to suggest the sound and part to suggest the meaning.
- The character 鱼 in 鲨鱼 functions as a radical, a visual category marker that allows readers to identify the word as an aquatic creature even if they cannot pronounce it.
Examples in context
- 昨天，我去海洋馆看到了一条 鲨鱼 。Yesterday, I went to the aquarium and saw a shark.
- 我最喜欢唱 鲨鱼宝宝 这首歌。I love singing the song Baby Shark the most.
- 那条鲨鱼很大。Nà tiáo shāyú hěn dà.That shark is very big.
- 我见过鲨鱼。Wǒ jiàn guo shāyú.I have seen a shark.
- 博物馆里有鲨鱼标本。Bówùguǎn lǐ yǒu shāyú biāoběn.There is a shark specimen in the museum.
Example conversation
Haoran and Xiaowen are visiting a large aquarium.
- 浩然 Haoran晓雯，快看那条巨大的鲨鱼！Xiǎowén, kuài kàn nà tiáo jùdà de shāyú!Xiaowen, look at that huge shark!
- 晓雯 Xiaowen哇，它看起来好凶啊。Wa, tā kàn qǐlái hǎo xiōng a.Wow, it looks so fierce.
- 浩然 Haoran它在盯着我们看呢。Tā zài dīngzhe wǒmen kàn ne.It is staring at us.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen还好有玻璃隔着。Hái hǎo yǒu bōlí gézhe.Luckily there is glass separating us.
