HSK 5 · Verbs

记忆 jìyì “to remember” in Chinese

Traditional 記憶

What 记忆 means

  1. to remember
  2. to recall
  3. memory

How to say 记忆

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale记jì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale忆yì4th tone, falling

记忆 in a sentence

  1. 重复是记忆之母。

    Chóngfù shì jìyì zhī mǔ.

    Repetition is the mother of memory.

    Sentence #5670854 from Tatoeba

  2. 我对祖母的记忆很模糊。

    Wǒ duì zǔmǔ de jìyì hěn móhu.

    My memories of my grandmother are very hazy.

    Sentence #2665544 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 记忆是我们大脑的一种主要功能。

    Jìyì shì wǒmen dànǎo de yìzhǒng zhǔyào gōngnéng.

    Memory is an essential function of our brain.

    Sentence #429143 from Tatoeba

How 记忆 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 记 (jì) with each of its parts in a different colour
记jìto record
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yán
  • 己self · jǐ

Memory aidSpeech 讠 with 己 (jǐ) for the sound: to note down, to remember.

The character 忆 (yì) with each of its parts in a different colour
忆yìto recollect
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 乙second (cyclical) · yǐSound part

忄 hints at the meaning (heart); 乙 (yǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with yì.

How to write 记忆

记 5 strokes · 忆 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 记忆

Words with 记

记jì · to remember记得jìde · remember忘记wàngjì · forget笔记bǐjì · notes笔记本bǐjìběn · notebook记者jìzhě · reporter日记rìjì · diary登记dēngjì · to register (one’s name)记录jìlù · to record记载jìzǎi · to record

Words with 忆

回忆huíyì · to recall

More words: Thinking & Talking

喊hǎn · to yell忽视hūshì · to neglect胡说húshuō · to talk nonsense幻想huànxiǎng · to fantasise纪念jìniàn · to commemorate假装jiǎzhuāng · to feign接待jiēdài · to receive (visitors or guests)借口jièkǒu · to use as an excuse

FAQs

记忆 (jìyì) means “to remember” or “to recall”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it jìyì: jì with a 4th tone, then yì with a 4th 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, 记忆 is written 記憶. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jiyi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 记忆 from the suggestions. Typing jiyi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
记忆 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.