Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 水 | shuǐ | /ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /ʂu̯əɻ²¹⁴/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Erhua, Sinological IPA, 水兒 / 水儿) |
standard |
| 开水 | kāishuǐ | common | |
| 冰水 | bīngshuǐ | common | |
| 矿泉水 | kuàngquánshuǐ | common |
水 (shuǐ) is the everyday word for water that you drink, wash with or swim in. It appears in many compounds, such as 开水 (kāishuǐ), boiled water, 冰水 (bīngshuǐ), iced water, and 矿泉水 (kuàngquánshuǐ), mineral water.
What does it mean word for word?
In pinyin the sound is written shui, but it is pronounced closer to shway. The character 水 is also a radical, written as 氵 when it appears on the left side of other characters.
How does it change in a sentence?
水 (shuǐ) has no plural form. To count it, use a measure word, as in 一杯水 (yì bēi shuǐ), "a glass of water".
How do you pronounce it?
Start with sh as in "shoe", then glide into a sound like way. The third tone dips down and then rises, though in fast speech you often hear only the low dip. Before another third tone it changes to a rising tone.
When do people say it?
In traditional Chinese thought, 水 (shuǐ) is one of the five elements, along with metal, wood, fire and earth.
Did you know?
- The character 水 (shuǐ) is Kangxi radical number 85.
Examples in context
- 请给我一杯水。Qǐng gěi wǒ yì bēi shuǐ.Please give me a glass of water.
- 这里的水很干净。Zhèlǐ de shuǐ hěn gānjìng.The water here is very clean.
Example conversation
Li Wei asks his friend Wang Fang what she wants to drink.
- Li Wei你想喝什么？Nǐ xiǎng hē shénme?What would you like to drink?
- Wang Fang我想喝水。Wǒ xiǎng hē shuǐ.I would like water.
- Li Wei冰水还是热水？Bīngshuǐ háishi rèshuǐ?Iced water or hot water?
- Wang Fang热水，谢谢。Rèshuǐ, xièxie.Hot water, thanks.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 水, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of .
