Where 唱 comes from
mouth
- Meaning part
- 口 (“mouth”)
- Sound part
- 昌 (“prosperous”)
How to write 唱 (chàng, “to sing”)
唱 (chàng), an HSK 1 character, means “to sing”, “to call loudly” and “to chant”. It pairs a meaning part, 口 (“mouth”), with a sound part, 昌 (“prosperous”). On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 演唱 (“to sing”), 歌唱 (“to sing”) and 合唱 (“chorus”). Japanese reads it shou, “chant”, as a JLPT N1 kanji.
- Pinyin
- chàng
- Strokes
- 11
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 口 (“mouth”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
As a left-right character it splits into 口 (“mouth”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 昌 (“prosperous”), strokes 4–11, written the left part first.
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕top leftup and right → rightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕toprightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐toprightwards
- Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
- Vertical ㇑centerdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕centerrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottomrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottomrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 11 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| chàng fourth tone | to sing; to call loudly; to chant | — | 演唱 歌唱 合唱 唱片 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 79 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 唱
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 唱 | chàng | to sing; to call loudly HSK 1 |
| 演唱 | yǎnchàng | to sing (for an audience); vocal performance HSK 4 |
| 歌唱 | gēchàng | to sing HSK 6 |
| 合唱 | héchàng | chorus; to chorus HSK 7-9 |
| 唱片 | chàngpiàn | gramophone record; LP HSK 7-9 |
| 卖唱 賣唱 | màichàng | to sing for a living |
| 唱名 | chàngmíng | solfege |
| 唱和 | chànghè | antiphon; sung reply |
| 唱商 | chàngshāng | one's ability to give a convincing performance of a song |
| 唱本 | chàngběn | opera libretto |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 1, in list order: