Meaning
唱 is the basic verb meaning 'to sing' in Mandarin Chinese. It covers all forms of vocal singing, from casual humming to professional performance. The character combines the mouth radical (口) with the phonetic component 昌, indicating an action performed with the voice.
Usage
唱 is used naturally in everyday conversation when talking about singing songs, karaoke, or musical performances. It commonly appears with 歌 (song) as 唱歌, which is one of the most frequent collocations. Native speakers use it for both solo and group singing contexts.
Examples
- 01她唱得很好听。.She sings very beautifully.
- 02我们一起去唱卡拉OK吧。.Let's go sing karaoke together.
Common collocations
- 唱歌to sing (a song)
- 唱歌跳舞to sing and dance
- 唱戏to perform opera
- 唱卡拉OKto sing karaoke
Origin
The character 唱 consists of the mouth radical 口 (kǒu) on the left, indicating the action involves speaking or using the mouth, combined with 昌 (chāng) which serves as both a phonetic component and suggests brightness or flourishing, relating to the expressive nature of singing.