HSK 3 · Nature

鸟 niǎo “bird” in Chinese

Traditional 鳥

What 鸟 means

  1. bird
  2. “bird” radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 196)
  3. (dialect) to pay attention to
  4. (intensifier) damned
  5. goddamn

Measure word 只 zhī or 群 qún · 一只鸟 yì zhī niǎo

How to say 鸟

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale鸟niǎo3rd tone, dipping

鸟 in a sentence

  1. 所有鸟都会飞吗？

    Suǒyǒu niǎo dōu huì fēi ma?

    Can all birds fly?

    Sentence #677005 from Tatoeba

  2. 这只鸟不能飞。

    Zhè zhī niǎo bùnéng fēi.

    This bird can’t fly.

    Sentence #381926 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我昨天早上看到了很多鸟。

    Wǒ zuótiān zǎoshang kàndào le hěn duō niǎo.

    I saw lots of birds yesterday morning.

    Sentence #9953372 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 鸟 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 鸟 (niǎo) drawn as one shape
鸟niǎobird

鸟 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 鸟

鸟 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 鸟

More words: Nature, Animals & Weather

动物dòngwù · animal刮风guāfēng · windy环境huánjìng · environment马mǎ · horse树shù · tree太阳tàiyáng · the sun熊猫xióngmāo · panda月亮yuèliang · the moon

FAQs

鸟 (niǎo) means “bird” or ““bird” radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 196)”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it niǎo: niǎo 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, 鸟 is written 鳥. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 只 (zhī) or 群 (qún). For example, one bird is 一只鸟 (yì zhī niǎo).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type niao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 鸟 from the suggestions. Typing niao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
鸟 is an HSK 3 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.