HSK 5 · Verbs

想念 xiǎngniàn “to miss” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 想念 means

  1. to miss
  2. to remember with longing
  3. to long to see again

How to say 想念

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale想xiǎng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale念niàn4th tone, falling

想念 in a sentence

  1. 我们想念我们的孩子。

    Wǒmen xiǎngniàn wǒmen de háizi.

    We miss our children.

    Sentence #13880775 from Tatoeba

  2. 我想念日本的食物。

    Wǒ xiǎngniàn Rìběn de shíwù.

    I miss Japanese food.

    Sentence #10742801 from Tatoeba

  3. 你走后，我会想念你的。

    Nǐ zǒu hòu, wǒ huì xiǎngniàn nǐ de.

    I’ll miss you when you’re gone.

    Sentence #893502 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 想念 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 想 (xiǎng) with each of its parts in a different colour
想xiǎngto think
  • 相mutual · xiāngSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 相 (xiāng) hints at the sound. Compare it with xiǎng.

Memory aid相 means to look at closely. Add the heart 心 and you picture something in your mind: to think.

The character 念 (niàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
念niànto read
  • 今modern · jīn
  • 心heart · xīn

How to write 想念

想 13 strokes · 念 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 想念

Words with 想

想xiǎng · to want想到xiǎngdào · to think of理想lǐxiǎng · an ideal感想gǎnxiǎng · impressions幻想huànxiǎng · to fantasise思想sīxiǎng · thought想象xiǎngxiàng · to imagine梦想mèngxiǎng · dream空想kōngxiǎng · fantasy联想liánxiǎng · to associate (ideas)

Words with 念

念niàn · to read aloud观念guānniàn · notion纪念jìniàn · to commemorate怀念huáiniàn · to cherish the memory of概念gàiniàn · concept留念liúniàn · to keep as a memento思念sīniàn · to miss悬念xuánniàn · suspense信念xìnniàn · belief

More words: Thinking & Talking

推辞tuīcí · to decline (an offer or invitation)推荐tuījiàn · to recommend委屈wěiqu · to feel wronged问候wènhòu · to give one’s respects想象xiǎngxiàng · to imagine信任xìnrèn · to trust欣赏xīnshǎng · to appreciate形容xíngróng · to describe

FAQs

想念 (xiǎngniàn) means “to miss” or “to remember with longing”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it xiǎngniàn: xiǎng with a 3rd tone, then niàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 想念 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiangnian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 想念 from the suggestions. Typing xiangnian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
想念 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.