意思 yìsi — meaning, sense

Meanings

1. 1

   meaning, sense

   What a word, sentence or gesture means. The fixed question is X 是什么意思, and 我的意思是… introduces a clarification.

   noun
2. 2

   interest, fun (in 有意思)

   noun

Example sentences

• 这个字是什么意思？/這個字是什麼意思？Zhège (fourth tone, falling) zì (fourth tone, falling) shì (fourth tone, falling) shénme (second tone, rising) yìsi? (fourth tone, falling)···

  What does this character mean?

• 这本书很有意思。/這本書很有意思。Zhè (fourth tone, falling) běn (third tone, dipping) shū (first tone, high and level) hěn (third tone, dipping) yǒu (third tone, dipping) yìsi. (fourth tone, falling)···

  This book is very interesting.

Common mistakes

• Not quite这个字有什么意思？

  Correct这个字是什么意思？

  The two are not interchangeable: 是什么意思 asks what something means, while 有意思 says something is interesting. 有什么意思 sounds like "what is fun about it?".

Similar words