HSK 5 · Adjectives

软 ruǎn “soft” in Chinese

Traditional 軟

What 软 means

  1. soft
  2. flexible

How to say 软

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale软ruǎn3rd tone, dipping

软 in a sentence

  1. 这很软。

    Zhè hěn ruǎn.

    This is soft.

    Sentence #7772143 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我住的那家旅馆的床太软了。

    Wǒ zhù de nà jiā lǚguǎn de chuáng tài ruǎn le.

    The bed at the hotel where I stayed was too soft.

    Sentence #13021052 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 这条围巾摸起来又软又滑。

    Zhè tiáo wéijīn mō qǐlai yòu ruǎn yòu huá.

    This scarf feels soft and smooth.

    Sentence #359010 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 软 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 软 (ruǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
软ruǎnsoft
  • 车cart · chēMeaning part
  • 欠yawn · qiànSound part

车 hints at the meaning (cart); 欠 (qiàn) hints at the sound. Compare it with ruǎn.

How to write 软

软 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

软 (ruǎn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 软 (ruǎn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 软

Words with 软

软件ruǎnjiàn · (computer) software

More words: Adjectives

滑huá · slippery宽kuān · wide夸张kuāzhāng · to exaggerate平安píng'ān · safe and sound淘气táoqì · naughty调皮tiáopí · naughty独立dúlì · independent独特dútè · unique

FAQs

软 (ruǎn) means “soft” or “flexible”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it ruǎn: ruǎn with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 软 is written 軟. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ruan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 软 from the suggestions. Typing ruan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
软 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.