普通话

pǔ tōng huà

HSK 2.0 Level 3 HSK 3.0 Level 4 Noun Rare

Definitions

1. Mandarin (common language)
2. Putonghua (common speech of the Chinese language)
3. ordinary speech

Word relationships

Register variants

2 items

• 国语 guó yǔ 国语 guó yǔ Chinese language (Mandarin), emphasizing its national nature mainly used in Taiwan to refer to Mandarin: Chinese language (Mandarin), emphasizing its national nature
• 华语 huá yǔ 华语 huá yǔ Chinese language commonly used in Singapore and Malaysia for Mandarin: Chinese language

Related words

2 items

• 方言 fāng yán 方言 fāng yán the first Chinese dialect dictionary, edited by Yang Xiong 揚雄|扬雄[yáng xióng] in 1st century, containing over 9000 characters dialect, as opposed to the standard language: the first Chinese dialect dictionary, edited by Yang Xiong 揚雄|扬雄[yáng xióng] in 1st century, containing over 9000 characters
• 中文 zhōng wén 中文 zhōng wén Chinese language Chinese language in general, often encompassing Mandarin: Chinese language

Usage notes

Common mistakes

Capitalize 'Mandarin' when referring to the standard Chinese language in English, as it derives from a proper noun.

Example Sentences

1 shown

他说的是 普通话 。

He speaks Mandarin.

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 普通话

• 塑料普通话 塑料普通话 sù liào pǔ tōng huà: (coll.) Mandarin Chinese spoken with a thick regional accent
• 普通话水平测试 普通话水平测试 pǔ tōng huà shuǐ píng cè shì: Putonghua Proficiency Test, an official test of spoken fluency in Standard Chinese for native speakers of Chinese languages, developed in the PRC in 1994

Child Words of 普通话

• 普通 普通 pǔ tōng: common
• 话 话 huà: dialect
• 通 通 tòng: classifier for an activity, taken in its entirety (tirade of abuse, stint of music playing, bout of drinking etc)
• 通话 通话 tōng huà: to talk over the telephone
• 普 普 pǔ: general