HSK 5 · Verbs

念 niàn “to read aloud” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 念 means

  1. to read aloud
  2. to study
  3. to miss (someone)
  4. to read
  5. to study (a subject)
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to attend (a school)
  • to give (sb) a tongue-lashing
  • to miss (sb)

How to say 念

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale念niàn4th tone, falling

念 in a sentence

  1. 这个字怎么念？

    Zhè ge zì zěnme niàn?

    How do you read this character?

    Sentence #1216051 from Tatoeba

  2. 你的妹妹念几年级？

    Nǐ de mèimei niàn jǐ niánjí?

    What year is your sister in at school?

    Sentence #864391 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

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

How to write 念

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.

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

Words related to 念

Words with 念

观念guānniàn · notion纪念jìniàn · to commemorate想念xiǎngniàn · to miss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: Common Verbs

面对miànduì · to face面临miànlín · to face摸mō · to feel with the hand模仿mófǎng · to imitate拍pāi · to pat派pài · to send培养péiyǎng · to cultivate配合pèihé · to cooperate

FAQs

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