Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 滑 | huá |
| 划 | huá |
In digital contexts, these terms describe the action of interacting with a touchscreen or trackpad. For more formal or technical descriptions of swiping on a smooth surface, you can use 滑动 (huá dòng). In casual settings, you may use 划 (huá) to refer to gestures on touchscreens or trackpads or the informal term 刷 (shuà) to mean "to swipe."
Which one should you use?
The character 滑 is most commonly used in modern digital contexts to describe the physical action of sliding a finger across a screen. The character 划 is often used when the swipe implies a specific directional movement or a cutting motion, although it is sometimes used interchangeably with 滑 in digital contexts.
How does it change in a sentence?
To specify the direction of a swipe, you add the direction after the verb 滑. For example, 向左滑 means "swipe left". You can also combine the verb with directions to form specific terms: 下滑 means "swipe down" and 上滑 means "swipe up".
How do you pronounce it?
huá
Did you know?
- In Chinese social media slang, the phrase 刷屏 literally means 'brushing the screen' and describes the act of flooding a chat with repetitive messages.
- The informal term 刷 (shuà), often used for swiping through social media feeds, literally means 'to brush'.
- The character 滑 contains the radical for 'water', reflecting its ancient connection to the feeling of something slippery or sliding through liquid.
Examples in context
- 请向右滑动Please swipe to the right.
- 请刷卡Please swipe your card.
- 划一下屏幕Swipe the screen.
- 我要刷一下社交媒体I want to swipe through social media.
- 在这个应用程序上向右刷一下，你将看到更多选项。Swipe right on this application, and you will see more options.
- 他用手指在屏幕上滑动来查看照片。He swiped his finger across the screen to view the photos.
- 用手指向上滑。Yòng shǒuzhǐ xiàngshàng huá.Swipe up with your finger.
- 他在手机上不停地向左滑。Tā zài shǒujī shàng bùtíng de xiàng zuǒ huá.He keeps swiping left on his phone.
Example conversation
Haoran is showing Zihan how to use a new app.
- 浩然 Haoran梓涵，你试着向上滑一下。Zǐhán, nǐ shìzhe xiàngshàng huá yīxià.Zihan, try swiping up once.
- 梓涵 Zihan这样滑是对的吗？Zhèyàng huá shì duì de ma?Is this how I swipe?
- 浩然 Haoran对，就像这样滑。Duì, jiù xiàng zhèyàng huá.Yes, just swipe like this.
- 梓涵 Zihan我学会了，谢谢你。Wǒ xuéhuì le, xièxiè nǐ.I've learned it, thank you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “swipe” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 划, 滑, CC BY-SA 4.0.
