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HSK 1

电视

television; TV

nounneutral1 episode
电
diàn4th tone
视
shì4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
diànshì
Part of speech
noun
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
13
Register
neutral
Measure word
台 / 个
In episodes
1

Stroke order for 电视

电视 is written with 13 strokes (电: 5, 视: 8). The animation replays automatically.

What does 电视 mean?

电视 (diànshì) is the Chinese word for 'television' — both the physical TV set and broadcast TV as a medium.

Literally 'electric vision,' it follows the same naming pattern as 电话 (diànhuà, 'electric speech' = telephone) and 电脑 (diànnǎo, 'electric brain' = computer). Two things English speakers should note: first, 电视 by itself usually means watching TV or the TV set; to specify a program or a show you say 电视节目 (diànshì jiémù) or 电视剧 (diànshì jù, a TV drama series); second, the measure word changes meaning — 一台电视 is one TV set, 一个电视节目 is one TV program. The most common HSK 1 collocation is 看电视 (kàn diànshì, 'to watch TV'), parallel to 看书 'to read a book.'

Character by character

电diànelectricity
+
视shìto look at; vision
=
电视

Memory hook: Electricity (电) + sight (视) = television. Same logic as 电话 (electric speech = phone).

Hear 电视 in real episodes

电视 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.

Harry Potter Fans Left Socks at Dobby's Grave. It Moved a £430 Million Undersea Cable.电视 spoken at natural speedeasy
Browse the full episode library

Example sentences

我喜欢看电视。

Wǒ xǐhuan kàn diànshì.

I like watching TV.

neutral

晚上爸爸在家看电视。

Wǎnshang bàba zài jiā kàn diànshì.

In the evening, Dad watches TV at home.

spoken

这台电视很大。

Zhè tái diànshì hěn dà.

This TV is very big.

neutral

请你开电视，好吗？

Qǐng nǐ kāi diànshì, hǎo ma?

Please turn on the TV, okay?

polite

Common phrases with 电视

看电视kàn diànshìto watch TV
电视剧diànshì jùTV drama series
电视节目diànshì jiémùTV program
电视台diànshì táiTV station / channel
开电视kāi diànshìto turn on the TV

Synonyms

电视机diànshì jī

电视机 specifies the physical TV set (the machine). 电视 covers both the device and the medium. When buying or moving the appliance, 电视机 is more precise.

Don't confuse 电视 with

电脑diànnǎo

电脑 is 'computer' (literally 'electric brain'). Same 电 prefix, different second character. Beginners often mix the two up because both are common HSK 1 electronics.

电影diànyǐng

电影 is 'movie / film' (literally 'electric shadow'). 看电视 = watch TV at home; 看电影 = watch a movie, usually at a cinema.

FAQ

Related words from the same episodes

地方place, spot电话phone call电线electric line, cable电影film贵expensive海边seaside, beach后来later钱money石头stone袜子sock为什么why喜欢to like, to love

Acquire it by listening

Meet 电视 again — in real Chinese, at your level.

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