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.
电diànlightning
曰say · yuē
乚second (cyclical) form of 乙 · yǐ
Memory aidSimplified from 電: lightning under the rain 雨: electricity.
影yǐngpicture
景part of the characterSound part
彡bristle · shānMeaning part
Memory aidRays of light 彡 with 景 (jǐng) for the sound: a shadow, an image.
How to write 电影
电 5 strokes · 影 15 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 电影 (diànyǐng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
电影 (diànyǐng) means “movie” or “film”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it diànyǐng: diàn with a 4th tone, then yǐng 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, 电影 is written 電影. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 部 (bù). For example, one movie is 一部电影 (yí bù diànyǐng).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dianying with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 电影 from the suggestions. Typing dianying into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
电影 is an HSK 1 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.
电diàn4th tone, falling
影yǐng3rd tone, dipping
