劝说

• Pinyin: quàn shuō
• Hanzi breakdown: 劝 = 又 + 力 (effort to persuade); 说 = 言 + 兑 (words + exchange — to speak and exchange views)

Meaning

To persuade; to talk someone into or out of something through patient reasoning and earnest explanation.

Emphasises the verbal process of active persuasion. Stronger than 建议, implying sustained effort to change someone's mind. Often requires repeated attempts and implies the subject is initially resistant.

Examples

1. 经过朋友们的反复劝说，她终于同意接受手术治疗。 After her friends talked to her again and again, she finally agreed to undergo surgery.
2. 谈判代表花了数小时劝说双方放弃对立立场，寻求合作解决方案。 The negotiators spent hours persuading both sides to drop their confrontational stances and seek a cooperative solution.
3. 即使百般劝说，他仍坚持己见，毫不动摇。 Even after repeated attempts to persuade him, he still stuck to his view and refused to budge.

Usage Guide

Context: negotiation, personal relationships, mediation

Tone: earnest

Do Say

• 调解员耐心地劝说双方各退一步，最终促成了这场持续已久的邻里纠纷和平解决。(The mediator patiently persuaded both parties to compromise, eventually facilitating a peaceful resolution to the long-running neighbourhood dispute.)
• 她劝说丈夫放弃那项风险极高的投资计划，并提出了更为稳健的理财替代方案。(She persuaded her husband to abandon the extremely high-risk investment plan and proposed a more prudent alternative financial approach.)

Don't Say

• 他劝说地告诉我这件事 — use 苦口婆心地告诉我 or 循循善诱地解释给我听; 劝说 is a verb, not an adverb, and cannot directly modify 告诉

Origin & History

劝 (persuade) + 说 (speak) — to speak persuasively to someone with the aim of changing their mind

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal