How common it is
挑选 appears often in everyday Chinese, so it is worth practicing early and reviewing often.
Pronunciation focus
Say tiāo xuǎn slowly first, then repeat it in a short phrase. Listen for the tone shape.
Usage note
“挑选”意思是仔细地选择自己喜欢或需要的东西。
“tiāo xuǎn” yì si shì zǐ xì de xuǎn zé zì jǐ xǐ huān huò xū yào de dōng xi.
"Select" means to carefully choose something you like or need.
Context note
去超市买水果时，我们会挑选最新鲜的苹果。
Qù chāo shì mǎi shuǐ guǒ shí, wǒ men huì tiāo xuǎn zuì xīn xiān de píng guǒ.
When buying fruit at the supermarket, we select the freshest apples.
5 examples
妈妈在商店里挑选衣服。
mā ma zài shāng diàn lǐ tiāo xuǎn yī fu。
Mom is selecting clothes in the store.
请你挑选一本你喜欢的书。
qǐng nǐ tiāo xuǎn yì běn nǐ xǐ huan de shū。
Please select a book you like.
我们挑选了最好的礼物送给朋友。
wǒ men tiāo xuǎn le zuì hǎo de lǐ wù sòng gěi péng yǒu。
We selected the best gift to give to our friend.
老师帮我们挑选了合适的玩具。
lǎo shī bāng wǒ men tiāo xuǎn le hé shì de wán jù。
The teacher helped us select suitable toys.
小明在水果摊前挑选橙子。
xiǎo míng zài shuǐ guǒ tān qián tiāo xuǎn chéng zǐ。
Xiao Ming is selecting oranges at the fruit stand.
5 mini stories
小红在文具店挑选铅笔。她选了一支蓝色的。
xiǎo hóng zài wén jù diàn tiāo xuǎn qiān bǐ。 tā xuǎn le yì zhī lán sè de。
Xiao Hong is selecting pencils at the stationery store. She chose a blue one.
爸爸带我去挑选生日蛋糕。我们选了一个草莓味的。
bà ba dài wǒ qù tiāo xuǎn shēng rì dàn gāo。 wǒ men xuǎn le yí gè cǎo méi wèi de。
Dad took me to select a birthday cake. We chose a strawberry-flavored one.
我们需要挑选一个故事书。最后选了《小王子》。
wǒ men xū yào tiāo xuǎn yí gè gù shì shū。 zuì hòu xuǎn le 《 xiǎo wáng zǐ 》。
We need to select a storybook. Finally, we chose "The Little Prince."
在花店里，妈妈挑选了一束花。花很漂亮。
zài huā diàn lǐ， mā ma tiāo xuǎn le yí shù huā。 huā hěn piào liang。
At the flower shop, Mom selected a bouquet of flowers. The flowers are very beautiful.
小明挑选了一个足球作为礼物。他喜欢踢球。
xiǎo míng tiāo xuǎn le yí gè zú qiú zuò wéi lǐ wù。 tā xǐ huan tī qiú。
Xiao Ming selected a soccer ball as a gift. He likes to play soccer.