activity; event; to move about
HSK level
活动 (huódòng) most commonly is a noun meaning an activity, event, or organized gathering — 参加活动 'take part in an event,' 户外活动 'outdoor activities,' 促销活动 'a promotional campaign.'
It also works as a verb meaning to move about, get some exercise, or loosen up: 活动活动身体 'move your body / stretch a bit.' As an adjective it can mean loose or movable (活动的牙齿 'a loose tooth'). English speakers should note that as a noun it spans a wide range English splits into 'activity,' 'event,' 'function,' and 'campaign,' so context decides the translation.
Its verb sense of 'moving around to keep limber' has no clean single-word English match. Register is neutral and extremely high-frequency. Compare 运动 (physical sport/exercise) and 举行 (to hold/stage an event, the verb you use to organize a 活动).
Character by character
Memory hook: 活 (alive) + 动 (move) — living and moving: activity.
活动 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Browse the full episode library周末学校有一个有趣的活动。
Zhōumò xuéxiào yǒu yí ge yǒuqù de huódòng.
There's a fun event at school this weekend.
spoken
坐久了，起来活动活动吧。
Zuò jiǔ le, qǐlái huódòng huódòng ba.
You've been sitting a while, get up and move around.
spoken
公司每年都会举办一次团队活动。
Gōngsī měinián dōu huì jǔbàn yí cì tuánduì huódòng.
The company holds a team event once a year.
neutral
这次公益活动吸引了很多志愿者参加。
Zhè cì gōngyì huódòng xīyǐn le hěn duō zhìyuànzhě cānjiā.
This charity event drew many volunteers.
written
活动 is written with 15 strokes (活: 9, 动: 6). Tap replay to watch each character drawn again.
Acquire it by listening
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