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.
去qùto go
土earth · tǔ
厶private · sī
Memory aidPicture someone leaving the ground 土 behind with a bag 厶: to go.
年niányear
年 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
Memory aidA person carrying ripe grain: one harvest, one year.
How to write 去年
去 5 strokes · 年 6 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 去年 (qùnián). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
去年 (qùnián) means “last year”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it qùnián: qù with a 4th tone, then nián with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 去年 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qunian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 去年 from the suggestions. Typing qunian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
去年 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
Turn words into conversations
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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.
去qù4th tone, falling
年nián2nd tone, rising
