Chinese word

发短信

Pronunciation

Pinyinfā duǎn xìn

Meaning

  • verbtext

Example

会议取消了，我会发短信告诉大家。huì yì qǔ xiāo le wǒ huì fā duǎn xìn gào sù dà jiā

The meeting has been canceled, so I will text everyone to let them know.

Illustration for 发短信 (text)

More examples

我刚给你发短信了，你看到了吗？wǒ gāng gěi nǐ fā duǎn xìn le nǐ kàn dào le ma

I just texted you; did you get it?

Core concept

A quick written note traveling from one device to another.

Common phrases

  • 给妈妈发短信gěi mā mā fā duǎn xìn

    text Mom

  • 给你发短信gěi nǐ fā duǎn xìn

    text you

  • 用手机发短信yòng shǒu jī fā duǎn xìn

    text using a cellphone

Similar words

发微信fā wēi xìn: Sending a message to someone through WeChat.
发消息fā xiāo xī: Sending a short message to someone through an app or device.
发信息fā xìn xī: Sending a written message to someone to make contact.
发邮件fā yóu jiàn: Composing and sending an email to someone.

Definition in Chinese

用手机或其他设备向对方发送简短的文字信息。yòng shǒu jī huò qí tā shè bèi xiàng duì fāng fā sòng jián duǎn de wén zì xìn xī

Word origin

发短信 (fāduǎnxìn, "send a short message") combines 发 (fā, "send") with 短 (duǎn, "short") + 信 (xìn, "message"), making the phrase's action and message format transparent.

Usage tips

  • English can use a noun as the verb for this action, but Chinese marks the sending action with a separate verb, which makes the sentence pattern easier to recognize.

Opposites

  • 收短信shōu duǎn xìnreceive text messagesverb

Word lists with this word