漂亮
pretty; beautiful
HSK level
- Pinyin
- piàoliang
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 23
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 4
Stroke order for 漂亮
漂亮 is written with 23 strokes (漂: 14, 亮: 9). The animation replays automatically.
What does 漂亮 mean?
漂亮 (piàoliang) is the everyday Chinese adjective for 'pretty / beautiful / good-looking.'
It describes people (especially women, though men too), clothing, objects, scenery, and even abstract things like a well-played game or a skilled move ('一个漂亮的进球' — a beautiful goal). The second syllable 亮 is normally fourth tone but reduces to a neutral tone (light, unstressed) inside this word, which is why dictionaries write it piàoliang, not piàoliàng. Two notes for English speakers: first, 漂亮 is more casual and broader than 美丽 (měilì), which is more literary and reserved for scenery, poetry, and writing; second, 漂亮 can also be used adverbially as praise — 干得漂亮 'beautifully done' / 'nice job.'
Character by character
Memory hook: Floating (漂) and bright (亮) — light, lovely, and dazzling.
Hear 漂亮 in real episodes
漂亮 appears in 4 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
熊猫很大，也很漂亮。
Pandas are big, and they're beautiful too.
Giant Pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang Land in Atlanta as Panda Diplomacy ReturnsBeginner
一个人在网上卖糖，说：吃了这个糖，你会很漂亮。
Someone sold sweets online, saying: eat these sweets and you'll be beautiful.
Fake Honey, Fake Camel Milk, Diet Sweets and 'Ghost Takeout': China's Top Court Publishes Typical Online Food-Safety Crimes
巴黎很大，也很漂亮。
Paris is big, and very beautiful.
A 2,000-Year-Old Wall Dug Up Under a Paris Hospital May Show Where Paris BeganBeginner
月亮很漂亮。
The moon is beautiful.
NASA Spots the Moon's Biggest New Crater in Years — a Warning for Future Moon BasesBeginner
Example sentences
你今天很漂亮。
Nǐ jīntiān hěn piàoliang.
You look very pretty today.
spoken
这件衣服真漂亮。
Zhè jiàn yīfu zhēn piàoliang.
This piece of clothing is really pretty.
spoken
她有一双漂亮的眼睛。
Tā yǒu yì shuāng piàoliang de yǎnjing.
She has a pair of beautiful eyes.
neutral
干得漂亮！
Gàn de piàoliang!
Nicely done!
spoken
Common phrases with 漂亮
Synonyms
好看 literally 'good to look at.' Slightly more casual and broader than 漂亮 — used for movies, books, clothes, faces. 漂亮 emphasizes prettiness; 好看 just means visually pleasant. 这本书很好看 = 'this book is good (a good read)' — you wouldn't say 这本书很漂亮.
美 means 'beautiful,' more literary and a touch stronger. Common in writing and compounds (美丽, 美女). In speech, 漂亮 is what you reach for in casual praise; 美 sounds more formal or poetic.
美丽 is the literary / written 'beautiful,' reserved for landscapes, women in formal description, and poetry. 漂亮 is what you say at lunch; 美丽 is what's printed in a tourism brochure.
Don't confuse 漂亮 with
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 漂亮 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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