HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Time

新年 xīnnián “New Year” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 新年 means

  1. New Year

Measure word 个 gè · 一个新年 yí ge xīnnián

How to say 新年

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale新xīn1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale年nián2nd tone, rising

新年 in a sentence

  1. 新年快到了。

    Xīnnián kuài dào le.

    New Year is almost here.

    Sentence #347260 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我打算在澳大利亚过新年。

    Wǒ dǎsuàn zài Àodàlìyà guò xīnnián.

    I’m planning to spend New Year in Australia.

    Sentence #8697589 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 新年快乐！

    Xīnnián kuàilè!

    Happy New Year!

    Sentence #373237 from Tatoeba

How 新年 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 新 (xīn) with each of its parts in a different colour
新xīnnew
  • 亲relatives · qīn
  • 斤axe · jīn

Memory aidAn axe 斤 cutting wood. It first meant firewood, freshly cut, and so “new”.

The character 年 (nián) drawn as one shape
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 新年

新 13 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.

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

Words related to 新年

Words with 新

新xīn · new新鲜xīnxiān · fresh experience新闻xīnwén · news重新chóngxīn · again新郎xīnláng · bridegroom新娘xīnniáng · bride新颖xīnyǐng · novel崭新zhǎnxīn · brand-new创新chuàngxīn · innovation更新gēngxīn · to update

Words with 年

年nián · year今年jīnnián · this year明年míngnián · next year去年qùnián · last year过年guònián · to celebrate the Chinese New Year年轻niánqīng · young年级niánjí · grade前年qiánnián · the year before last后年hòunián · the year after next年龄niánlíng · (a person’s) age

More words: Time & Dates

季jì · season不久bùjiǔ · soon好久hǎojiǔ · a long time夏天xiàtiān · summer冬天dōngtiān · winter春天chūntiān · spring (season)假期jiàqī · holiday秋天qiūtiān · autumn

FAQs

新年 (xīnnián) means “New Year”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it xīnnián: xīn with a 1st 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. 新年 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one New Year is 一个新年 (yí ge xīnnián).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xinnian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 新年 from the suggestions. Typing xinnian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
新年 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 5 word list. It is not on the older 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.