TongTong
Sign in

画面 (huà miàn) — picture; image (in a photo or artwork); scene; frame (in a film, video, or animation); screen display; graphics (on a computer or game screen)

Definition

画面 means the visual image itself — a picture, a frame in a film, or graphics on a screen. Unlike 照片 (a still photograph you take) or 视频 (a video clip), 画面 focuses on what's being seen, often one frame or view at a time.

noun
pictureimage (in a photo or artwork)sceneframe (in a film, video, or animation)screen displaygraphics (on a computer or game screen)
Measure word · 幅

Examples

  • 画面，。
    Zhè zhāng huà miàn fēi cháng qīng xī, néng kàn dào yuǎn chù de shān.
    This picture is very clear; you can see the mountains in the distance.
  • 画面。
    Diàn yǐng de zuì hòu jǐ gè huà miàn tè bié gǎn rén.
    The last few frames of the movie are especially touching.
  • 画面。
    Zhè ge yóu xì de huà miàn shè jì dé hěn piào liang.
    The graphics of this game are designed to be very beautiful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

画huàpicture
面miànsurface

画面 is the visual 面 of a 画; picture and surface combine to mean an image or frame.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 畫; 画 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
聿聿yùbrush
Sound part声符shēngfú
規
規guī畫huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 畫 pairs 聿, a brush, with 規 for its sound. The simplified 画 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the old parts.

Open 画 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Art & Fine ArtsPhotography & Design5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.