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Chinese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "crab" in Chinese?
螃蟹
páng xiè
In Chinese, "crab" is 螃蟹.
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Pronunciation
Páng (high flat tone) xiè (falling tone). Say 'pong' on a steady high pitch, then drop sharply to 'shyeh' at the end.
Writing and usage
Two characters totalling 10 strokes. The character 螃 has the insect radical on the left side. The character 蟹 also contains the insect radical 虫, reinforcing that this is a creature word.
Example sentence
我看到一只螃蟹在沙滩上。
I saw a crab on the beach.
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How to remember 螃蟹
Páng sounds like 'pong', the sound a crab might make. Xiè rhymes with the sh sound in 'shell'.
Related words
- barrel 桶 tǒng
- bucket 桶 tǒng
- clam 蛤蜊 gé lì
- clownfish 小丑鱼 xiǎo chǒu yú
- crate 板条箱 bǎn tiáo xiāng
- deckchair 帆布躺椅 fān bù tǎng yǐ
- fly 苍蝇 cāng ying
- sea horse 海马 hǎi mǎ
- turtle 乌龟 wū guī
Browse all Chinese words in the glossary.
Questions about 螃蟹
How do you say "crab" in Chinese?
In Chinese, "crab" is 螃蟹. It is a noun.
How is 螃蟹 written in Chinese?
Two characters totalling 10 strokes. The character 螃 has the insect radical on the left side. The character 蟹 also contains the insect radical 虫, reinforcing that this is a creature word.
How is 螃蟹 used in a sentence?
Use 螃蟹 as you would use the equivalent noun in English. For example: 我看到一只螃蟹在沙滩上。 (I saw a crab on the beach.).
Where can I practice Chinese words for free?
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"Crab" in other languages
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