谢謝 xiè — to thank; thanks; (of flowers) to wither, to fade; Xie, a common surname
xiè (fourth tone, falling)
Traditional: 謝
to thank; thanks; (of flowers) to wither, to fade; Xie, a common surname
12 strokesRadical 言Frequency #487
Pinyin
- xiè (fourth tone, falling)
to thank; thanks; (of flowers) to wither, to fade; Xie, a common surname
Character breakdown
Ideographic description
⿰讠射The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.
- 讠meaning partno entry yetThe speech radical: thanks are something you say.
- 射sound partno entry yet射 shè, "to shoot an arrow", supplies the sound (shè → xiè) rather than the meaning.
Mnemonic
Words 讠 beside 射 shè, "to shoot": thanks are words sent straight to the person who earned them, and 射 carries the sound as well (shè → xiè). Doubled, it gives the everyday 谢谢; the usual reply is 不用谢, "no need to thank me".
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.
Words containing 谢
Radical 言 — other characters
- 说說shuō (first tone, high and level)to speak, to say, to talk; to explain; to tell off (colloquial)
- 认認rèn (fourth tone, falling)to recognise, to identify; to admit, to acknowledge; to accept as inevitable
- 语語yǔ (third tone, dipping)language, tongue; speech, words; a saying
- 让讓ràng (fourth tone, falling)to let, to allow; to make or cause someone to do something; to yield, to give way, to give up a seat
- 记記jì (fourth tone, falling)to record, to write down; to remember, to bear in mind; a note, an account; a mark
- 话話huà (fourth tone, falling)speech, words, what is said; a language or dialect; to talk about
- 识識shí (second tone, rising) zhì (fourth tone, falling)to know, to recognise; knowledge; (zhì) to record, an inscription
- 请請qǐng (third tone, dipping)please; to ask, to request; to invite; to treat someone (to a meal)
- 读讀dú (second tone, rising)to read; to read aloud; to study, to attend school