跳舞
to dance
tiàowǔ
What does 跳舞 mean?
跳舞 (tiàowǔ) is a verb-object compound meaning 'to dance' — literally 'jump dance' (跳 jump + 舞 dance). Like 说话, 唱歌, 睡觉, it is a separable verb: you can split it for grammatical purposes — 跳了一个舞 (danced one dance), 跳什么舞 (dance what kind of dance). It refers to social, performance, or recreational dancing in general.
To name a specific dance style, replace or add to 舞: 跳广场舞 (square dancing, hugely popular among older Chinese women in public squares), 跳街舞 (hip-hop), 跳芭蕾舞 (ballet). 跳舞 is intransitive in the basic sense — you can't say 跳舞探戈 ('dance the tango'); say 跳探戈
Character breakdown
to jump; to leap
dance
Memory hook: Literally 'jump' + 'dance' — Chinese sees dancing as a kind of leaping movement. Both characters together = the act of dancing.
Example sentences
我妹妹很喜欢跳舞。
Wǒ mèimei hěn xǐhuan tiàowǔ.
My little sister loves to dance.
spoken
她跳舞跳得很好。
Tā tiàowǔ tiào de hěn hǎo.
She dances really well.
neutral
我妈妈每天晚上去跳广场舞。
Wǒ māma měi tiān wǎnshang qù tiào guǎngchǎng wǔ.
My mom goes square dancing every evening.
spoken
今天晚上我们一起去跳舞吧。
Jīntiān wǎnshang wǒmen yìqǐ qù tiàowǔ ba.
Let's go dancing together tonight.
spoken
他不会跳舞。
Tā bú huì tiàowǔ.
He doesn't know how to dance.
neutral
Common phrases with 跳舞
Synonyms
舞蹈 is the noun 'dance' as an art form or discipline (舞蹈课 dance class, 学舞蹈 study dance). 跳舞 is the verb 'to dance.' Use 舞蹈 when talking about dance as a subject or art; 跳舞 when talking about the action.
Don't confuse 跳舞 with
跳 alone means 'to jump' or 'to leap.' 跳舞 specifically means 'to dance.' 心跳 (xīn tiào) is 'heartbeat,' not 'heart dance.' Context tells you when 跳 is just jumping vs. when it pairs with 舞.
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