Chinese word

讲话

Pronunciation

Pinyinjiǎng huà

Meaning

  • verbspeak

Example

她在台上讲话。tā zài tái shàng jiǎng huà

She is speaking on stage.

Illustration for 讲话 (speak)

More examples

他很忙，不想和我讲话。tā hěn máng bù xiǎng hé wǒ jiǎng huà

He is very busy and does not want to speak with me.

Core concept

Turns a person's thoughts into words heard by others, from everyday remarks to a formal public address.

Common phrases

  • 和他讲话hé tā jiǎng huà

    speak with him

  • 用电话讲话yòng diàn huà jiǎng huà

    speak on the phone

Similar words

说shuō: Use spoken words to express a thought or give information.
说话shuō huà: Take part in a spoken exchange with another person.
告诉gào sù: Give someone a fact or piece of information so they learn it.
讲jiǎng: Give a detailed explanation of words or ideas so others understand them.

Definition in Chinese

口头表达个人意见或观点，既可指一般的说话，也可指正式场合的发言或演讲。kǒu tóu biǎo dá gè rén yì jiàn huò guān diǎn jì kě zhǐ yì bān de shuō huà yě kě zhǐ zhèng shì chǎng hé de fā yán huò yán jiǎng

Word origin

讲话 (jiǎnghuà, "to speak") combines 讲 (jiǎng, "to explain or state") + 话 (huà, "words or speech"), linking the act of expressing an idea with the words spoken aloud.

Usage tips

  • The same form can describe an action after a subject or refer to a person's delivered words after a possessive, so sentence position helps identify its role.

Other meanings

  • speechnoun
  • statementnoun

Word lists with this word