(hóng) - red in Mandarin
hóngTraditional: 紅
Translation
red
Word origin
A phono-semantic compound of 糹 (the silk radical) and 工 (gōng, phonetic). It first named the colour of dyed silk.
- Origin
- phono-semantic compound
- Root
- 糹 (silk) + 工 (gōng, phonetic)
Stroke order
红
Examples
。
She wore a red dress.
云。
The clouds on the horizon have all turned red.
。
His face went red at once.
笼。
Two red lanterns hang at the door.
。
This brand has been very popular lately.
红 (hóng) is red. Before a noun it usually wants 的 or the fuller form 红色: 红色的车 and 红车 are both said, but 红的车 is what you hear most often in speech.
As a predicate it needs a degree adverb, like every Chinese adjective: 这个苹果很红, not a bare 这个苹果红. Dropping 很 turns the sentence into a comparison, which is rarely what you meant.
The cultural weight matters. Red is the colour of luck, weddings and 红包, the red envelope of cash. It also means popular or famous: 他最近很红 says he is having a moment, not that he has gone crimson. That second sense is the one English speakers miss.
Where this fits
Used in
Grammar articles
(8)Mandarin Adjectives as Stative Verbs: Why 'I Am Cold' Is 我冷, Not 我是冷
Mandarin Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
The Mandarin Durative 着 (zhe): Marking a State That Continues (门开着, 拿着书, 笑着说)
Mandarin Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2 / HSK 4-5): Complements, Conjunctions and the Full 了 System
Mandarin Possession with 的 (de): My, Your, His, and When Mandarin Drops the Particle
Mandarin Relative Clauses with 的 (de): How the Modifier Goes Before the Noun
The Three de in Mandarin: 的, 得, and 地 and How to Tell Them Apart
Mandarin Sentence Structure: Word Order, Topic-Comment and the 把 Construction
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红: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "红" (red): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 47.