说实话
shuōshíhuàTraditional: 說實話
#1643 of 5,000 Core 5000
Translation
to tell the truth, to be honest, honestly speaking
Word origin
A phrase combining 说 (shuō, to speak), 实 (shí, true, real) and 话 (huà, words, speech), literally to speak true words, hence to tell the truth.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 说 (shuō, to speak) + 实话 (shíhuà, true words)
Stroke order
说
实
话
Examples
，。
To be honest, I do not really like this film.
？
Can you tell me the truth?
。
Telling the truth is harder than lying.
，。
Honestly, this was my fault.
。
He finally decided to tell the truth.
说实话 (shuō shíhuà) means to tell the truth, and as a sentence opener it works like the English honestly speaking or to be honest. It is extremely common in conversation as a softener before a frank opinion.
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 33.