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廈 — pronunciations, definitions, and tags
HanziPinyinEnglishTags
廈shàlarge building; mansionx, 13 strokes, radical 广
shà(sha4) T4
  1. 1large building; mansion
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March 24, 2026

廈shà(sha4)

廈 (shà) refers to a large building or mansion, often suggesting a place of significance or grandeur. It is commonly used in contexts related to architecture, urban planning, or discussing important structures in a city.

Strokes13Radical广
Cultural Note

In Chinese culture, impressive buildings like 廈 are often associated with wealth and status, symbolizing success in business or government. For instance, many historical mansions in cities represent the architectural style of affluent families.

Memory Tip

Think of 廈 (shà) as a 'shack' that's actually a 'mansion.' The character features the radical for 'building' on the left (广) and a phonetic element (夏), which sounds like 'shà.' Imagine a huge summer mansion to remember both its sound and meaning.

Meanings of 廈

shà(sha4)
1large building; mansion
Exercise 1 of 2

Listen & Choose the Meaning

Choose the correct answer:

About 廈

廈Simplified
13Strokes
广Radical
非语素字non-morpheme character (n-m.)Part of Speech
#—Frequency Rank

Podcast: 廈

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Podcast: 廈

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AI Study Notes for 廈

Quick Contrast

大厦 (dàshà) vs 高楼 (gāolóu) — use 廈 (shà) when emphasizing grandeur or significance, while 高楼 (gāolóu) refers more generally to tall buildings without the same connotation.

Usage Notes

Learners often confuse 廈 with smaller building terms like 房 (fáng, house) or 楼 (lóu, floor). It is used in a more formal context, often seen in written Chinese and discussions about architecture. Watch out for tone mistakes; it should always be pronounced with a falling tone (shà).

HSK Study Tips

Though 廈 is not included in the HSK vocabulary, it connects to other HSK words related to buildings (如 房, 楼). Focus on recognizing it in context, especially in reading materials about cities or architecture.

Common Mistakes

Learners might mistakenly use 廈 to refer to small buildings or homes, such as saying '我住在一個廈' (I live in a mansion) when they mean 'house.' The correct usage would be '我住在一個房子里' (I live in a house).

AI-enhanced 2026-03-24

Pronunciation of 廈

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Etymology of 廈

Formation Typepictophonetic
六书 ClassificationPhono-semantic (形声字)~80-90% of characters
Explanation

Phonosemantic compound. 厂 represents the meaning and 夏 represents the sound. Simplified form of 廈.

Memory Hint

building

Semantic (meaning)广
+
Phonetic (sound)夏
Learn more about Phono-semantic (形声字) characters

Jason Etymology Detective

Case file: 廈

Phonosemantic compound. 厂 represents the meaning and 夏 represents the sound. Simplified form of 廈.

  1. 1The meaning half广 carries the sense.
  2. 2The sound half夏 is there for the reading, not the meaning.
  3. 3The giveawaybuilding
  4. 4On the record aspictophonetic.

Every clue here comes from the character's recorded structure — nothing is guessed.

Want the full history of 廈? Jason searches the paleographic record, weighs the competing accounts and judges the popular story.

Charged once for this character — everyone reads it afterwards.
Exercise 1 of 1

Character Formation Type

What type of character formation is 廈?

Decomposition of 廈

IDS Structure⿸广夏
廈Full Character
=
广Guang3
enclosing
夏Xia4
inner
Exercise 1 of 2

Identify the Components

Which of these is a component of 廈?

How to say large building; mansion in Chinese

“large building; mansion” in Chinese is廈shà

廈 (shà) refers to a large building or mansion, often suggesting a place of significance or grandeur. It is commonly used in contexts related to architecture, urban planning, or discussing important structures in a city.

When to use 廈

Learners often confuse 廈 with smaller building terms like 房 (fáng, house) or 楼 (lóu, floor). It is used in a more formal context, often seen in written Chinese and discussions about architecture. Watch out for tone mistakes; it should always be pronounced with a falling tone (shà).

廈 or something close to it

大厦 (dàshà) vs 高楼 (gāolóu) — use 廈 (shà) when emphasizing grandeur or significance, while 高楼 (gāolóu) refers more generally to tall buildings without the same connotation.

What learners get wrong

Learners might mistakenly use 廈 to refer to small buildings or homes, such as saying '我住在一個廈' (I live in a mansion) when they mean 'house.' The correct usage would be '我住在一個房子里' (I live in a house).

Write 廈

廈

Practice writing 廈 stroke by stroke. Watch the animation to learn the stroke order, then try writing it yourself.

Write correctly 3 times to earn XP

Word Family of 廈

Words Containing This Character10
大厦dàshà(used in the names of grand buildings such as 百老匯大廈|百老汇大厦 Broadway Mansions (in Shanghai) or 帝國大廈|帝国大厦 Empire State Building etc)大廈
厦门Xiamen or Amoy, subprovincial city in Fujian, abbr. 廈|厦[Xià]廈門
厦shàmansion廈
厦门市also known as Amoy廈門市
高楼大厦tall building高樓大廈
厦门大学Xiamen University廈門大學
摩天大厦skyscraper摩天大廈
金茂大厦Jin Mao Tower, skyscraper in Shanghai金茂大廈
大厦将倾great mansion on the verge of collapse (idiom); hopeless situation大廈將傾
噶厦government of Tibet, dissolved in 1959噶廈
Exercise 1 of 4

Compound Meaning

What does 大厦 mean?

Frequently Asked Questions about 廈

No, 廈 is more often used in formal contexts or literature rather than in casual spoken Chinese.

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