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Definition 2025

形容

形容

Chinese

		to appear; to look; form to appear; to look; form; shape	to hold; to contain; to allow to hold; to contain; to allow; appearance; look; countenance
simp. and trad. (形容)		形	容

Noun

形容

(formal) facial appearance; looks; countenance

Verb

形容

(Elementary Mandarin) to describe

Japanese

Kanji in this term
形	容
けい Grade: 2	よう Grade: 5
on'yomi

Noun

形容 ‎(hiragana けいよう, romaji keiyō)

description
(archaic) appearance, form

Derived terms

形容詞 (けいようし) ‎(keiyōshi, “adjective”)
形容動詞 (けいようどうし) ‎(keiyōdōshi, “adjectival noun, quasi-adjective, -na adjective”):

Verb

形容する ‎(hiragana けいようする, romaji keiyō suru)

describe

Conjugation

Conjugation of "形容する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	形容し	けいようし	keiyō shi
Continuative (連用形)	形容し	けいようし	keiyō shi
Terminal (終止形)	形容する	けいようする	keiyō suru
Attributive (連体形)	形容する	けいようする	keiyō suru
Hypothetical (仮定形)	形容すれ	けいようすれ	keiyō sure
Imperative (命令形)	形容せよ¹ 形容しろ²	けいようせよ¹ けいようしろ²	keiyō seyo¹ keiyō shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	形容される	けいようされる	keiyō sareru
Causative	形容させる形容さす	けいようさせるけいようさす	keiyō saseru keiyō sasu
Potential	形容できる	けいようできる	keiyō dekiru
Volitional	形容しよう	けいようしよう	keiyō shiyō
Negative	形容しない	けいようしない	keiyō shinai
Negative continuative	形容せず	けいようせず	keiyō sezu
Formal	形容します	けいようします	keiyō shimasu
Perfective	形容した	けいようした	keiyō shita
Conjunctive	形容して	けいようして	keiyō shite
Hypothetical conditional	形容すれば	けいようすれば	keiyō sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative

Pronunciation

Mandarin

(Pinyin): xíngróng

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄖㄨㄥˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jing⁴ jung⁴
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): hìn-yùng
Min Nan (POJ): hêng-iông

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
  - Pinyin: xíngróng
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄖㄨㄥˊ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyngrong
  - IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ³⁵ ʐʊŋ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: jing⁴ jung⁴
  - Yale: yìhng yùhng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jing⁴ jung⁴
  - IPA ^(key): /jɪŋ²¹ jʊŋ²¹/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hìn-yùng
  - Hakka Romanization System: hinˇ iungˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: hin² yung²
  - IPA: /hin¹¹ i̯uŋ¹¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hìn-yùng
  - Hakka Romanization System: hinˇ (r)iungˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: hin² yung²
  - IPA: /hin¹¹ (j)i̯uŋ¹¹/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hêng-iông
  - Tâi-lô: hîng-iông
  - Phofsit Daibuun: heng'ioong
  - IPA (Xiamen): /hiɪŋ²⁴⁻²² iɔŋ²⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /hiɪŋ²⁴⁻²² iɔŋ²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /hiɪŋ¹³⁻²² iɔŋ¹³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /hiɪŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ iɔŋ²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hiɪŋ²³⁻³³ iɔŋ²³/