说 (shuō) · to speak; to talk; to say

Meanings

1 to speak; to talk; to say
2 to explain
3 to scold; to tell off
4 theory; doctrine

Characters

说

shuō

to speak; to say; to explain

Speech radical 讠 on the left - relates to speaking.

Examples

HSK 1

你说什么？

Nǐ shuō shénme?

What did you say?

HSK 1

老师说明天不上课。

Lǎoshī shuō míngtiān bù shàngkè.

The teacher said there's no class tomorrow.

HSK 4

妈妈说了他一顿。

Māma shuō le tā yídùn.

Mom gave him a scolding.

Tips

usage

说 is the everyday verb for producing words - saying, talking, mentioning. Use 讲 for narrating or lecturing, and 告诉 for telling a specific person specific information. In nominal compounds like 学说 (theory) and 传说 (legend), the same shuō reading shifts to a noun sense - “a told account”, hence “doctrine” or “what is said”.

mistakes

说 is polyphone. The default reading shuō covers “to say / explain / scold” and the noun sense “theory” in compounds like 学说. The rarer reading shuì means “to persuade” and only shows up in fixed words such as 游说 (to lobby) and 说客 (lobbyist). Everywhere else, including 说服 in modern Mainland usage, default to shuō.

Components

radical

讠 yán

speech; word

Left 讠 is the speech radical, simplified side-form of 言. Marks 说 as a speech-act verb. Anchors a vast family of speaking and communication chars - 话 talk, 请 request, 让 yield, 谁 who, 谢 thank, 课 lesson. Always the first hint a reader gets that the verb involves talking.

phonetic

兑 duì

exchange; cash in

Right 兑 supplies the sound - duì drifting to shuō with significant Old Chinese consonant shift. The same phonetic family shows wide drift: 锐 sharp, 脱 remove, 阅 read, 悦 delighted. 兑 itself depicts a person opening their mouth - a faint speech-association that loosely supports the meaning.

In Pop Culture

三国演义 Sānguó yǎnyì

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Ming-dynasty historical novel by 罗贯中. The 演义 genre name literally means “to unfold and explain” - narrative explication of history, same shuō sense as 学说.