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历史lì shǐhistory

HSK 3word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

历史 (lì shǐ) means "history." It names the past of a country, a city, or a thing, and also history as a school subject, as in 历史课 (history class). It is a noun and is often used with 有 to say something has a long past, as in 很长的历史.

What does 历史 mean?

  1. 1.

    historynoun

What do the characters in 历史 mean?

  • 历to experience
  • 史history

How do you use 历史?

历史 is a noun; 有……的历史 can say how long something has existed.

Patterns

  • 有 + ……的历史

    这家饭店有一百年的历史。

    Zhè jiā fàndiàn yǒu yìbǎi nián de lìshǐ.

    This restaurant has a hundred-year history.

What are some examples of 历史 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 1

    我很喜欢历史课。

    Wǒ hěn xǐhuan lìshǐ kè.

    I really like history class.

  2. HSK 3

    这个城市有很长的历史。

    Zhège chéngshì yǒu hěn cháng de lìshǐ.

    This city has a long history.

  3. HSK 1

    他在大学学习历史。

    Tā zài dàxué xuéxí lìshǐ.

    He studies history at university.

How is 历史 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    你看，这个老房子真好看。

    Nǐ kàn, zhège lǎo fángzi zhēn hǎokàn.

    Look, this old house is really beautiful.

  2. Speaker B:

    它有三百年的历史了。

    Tā yǒu sānbǎi nián de lìshǐ le.

    It's three hundred years old now.

  3. Speaker A:

    我们可以进去看看吗？

    Wǒmen kěyǐ jìnqù kànkan ma?

    Can we go in and take a look?

  4. Speaker B:

    可以，买票就能进去。

    Kěyǐ, mǎi piào jiù néng jìnqù.

    Yes, you can go in if you buy a ticket.

What should you learn next?

Related words

Browse every entry in the Chinese word dictionary.

English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.