to say; to speak
HSK level
说 is written with 9 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
说 (shuō) means 'to say / to speak / to tell.'
It's the core verb for verbal communication — 说话 (shuō huà, 'to speak / talk'), 说中文 (shuō Zhōngwén, 'speak Chinese'), 他说他来 'he says he's coming.' Two things English speakers should know: first, 说 can take a direct quote OR an embedded clause without any 'that': 他说他不来 = 'He said (that) he's not coming' — no 说他说 needed; second, 说 differs from 讲 (jiǎng) in feel: 说 is the everyday neutral verb, while 讲 leans toward 'explain / tell at length' (讲故事 'tell a story').
For 'speak a language,' both work, but 说 is more common at HSK 1: 我会说一点中文 'I can speak a little Chinese.' Also useful: 听说 (tīngshuō, 'I heard that') opens a sentence reporting hearsay.
说 appears in 3 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
你会说中文吗？
Nǐ huì shuō Zhōngwén ma?
Can you speak Chinese?
spoken
他说他不来。
Tā shuō tā bù lái.
He says he's not coming.
neutral
请你说慢一点。
Qǐng nǐ shuō màn yīdiǎn.
Please speak a little slower.
polite
我听说你病了。
Wǒ tīngshuō nǐ bìng le.
I heard you're sick.
spoken
话 is the NOUN 'speech / words / what someone says,' not the verb. 说话 = verb 'to speak' (literally 'say words'); just 话 alone = 'words/talk' (他的话 'what he said'). Don't say 我话中文 — say 我说中文.
Acquire it by listening
You just saw 说 in 3 episodes. Fluentide keeps feeding you news episodes at your level, so this word — and thousands like it — resurface in real sentences until they stick. Full pinyin and translation every time. Free to start.
