HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Everyday Verbs
养 yǎng “to raise (animals)” in Chinese
Traditional 養
What 养 means
- to raise (animals)
- to keep (pets)
- to bring up (children)
- to support
- to give birth
How to say 养
养yǎng3rd tone, dipping
养 in a sentence
How 养 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.

养yǎngto raise
养 is a single shape of 9 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
How to write 养
养 9 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

Words related to 养
Words with 养
养成yǎngchéng · to cultivate营养yíngyǎng · nutrition培养péiyǎng · to cultivate抚养fǔyǎng · to raise (a child)保养bǎoyǎng · to take care of (one’s health)教养jiàoyǎng · upbringing饲养sìyǎng · to raise修养xiūyǎng · self-cultivation
More words: Everyday Verbs
FAQs
养 (yǎng) means “to raise (animals)” or “to keep (pets)”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it yǎng: yǎng 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, 养 is written 養. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 养 from the suggestions. Typing yang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
养 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 4 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.
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.