HSK 5 · Adjectives

嫩 nèn “young and tender” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 嫩 means

  1. young and tender
  2. (of food) tender
  3. lightly cooked
  4. (of colour) light
  5. (of a person) inexperienced
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • unskilled

How to say 嫩

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale嫩nèn4th tone, falling

嫩 in a sentence

  1. 这块牛肉很嫩。

    Zhè kuài niúròu hěn nèn.

    This beef is very tender.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 春天，树上长出了嫩叶。

    Chūntiān, shù shàng zhǎngchū le nèn yè.

    In spring, tender new leaves grow on the trees.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 嫩 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 嫩 (nèn) with each of its parts in a different colour
嫩nènyoung and tender
  • 女woman · nǚMeaning part
  • 敕an imperial order or decree · chìSound part

女 hints at the meaning (woman); 敕 (chì) hints at the sound. Compare it with nèn.

How to write 嫩

嫩 14 strokes

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

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

Words related to 嫩

More words: Adjectives

苗条miáotiao · (of a woman) slim明显míngxiǎn · clear模糊móhu · vague陌生mòshēng · strange能干nénggàn · capable浓nóng · concentrated片面piànmiàn · one-sided平píng · flat

FAQs

嫩 (nèn) means “young and tender” or “(of food) tender”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it nèn: nèn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 嫩 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type nen with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 嫩 from the suggestions. Typing nen into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
嫩 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.