HSK 5 · Nature

影子 yǐngzi “shadow” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 影子 means

  1. shadow
  2. reflection
  3. (fig.) hint
  4. indication
  5. influence

Measure word 个 gè · 一个影子 yí ge yǐngzi

How to say 影子

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale影yǐng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own子zineutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

影子 in a sentence

  1. 她害怕自己的影子。

    Tā hàipà zìjǐ de yǐngzi.

    She is afraid of her own shadow.

    Sentence #4262218 from Tatoeba

  2. 他们俩的影子重叠在一起。

    Tāmen liǎ de yǐngzi chóngdié zài yìqǐ.

    Their two shadows overlap.

    Sentence #458041 from Tatoeba

  3. 树投下长长的影子。

    Shù tóu xià chángcháng de yǐngzi.

    The tree cast a long shadow.

    Sentence #5316636 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 影子 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 影 (yǐng) with each of its parts in a different colour
影yǐngpicture
  • 景part of the characterSound part
  • 彡bristle · shānMeaning part

Memory aidRays of light 彡 with 景 (jǐng) for the sound: a shadow, an image.

The character 子 (zi) with each of its parts in a different colour
子zinoun suffix, as in 椅子 “chair”
  • 了clear · le
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidA baby with its arms out and its legs wrapped up.

How to write 影子

影 15 strokes · 子 3 strokes

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

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

Words related to 影子

Words with 影

电影diànyǐng · movie电影院diànyǐngyuàn · cinema影响yǐngxiǎng · influence合影héyǐng · to take a joint photo摄影shèyǐng · to take a photograph

Words with 子

儿子érzi · son椅子yǐzi · chair桌子zhuōzi · table杯子bēizi · cup妻子qīzi · wife孩子háizi · child本子běnzi · book子zi · (common noun suffix)裤子kùzi · pants帽子màozi · hat

More words: Nature & Environment

土地tǔdì · land兔子tùzi · hare尾巴wěiba · tail雾wù · fog灾害zāihài · calamity猪zhū · pig竹子zhúzi · bamboo斑bān · spot

FAQs

影子 (yǐngzi) means “shadow” or “reflection”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it yǐngzi: yǐng with a 3rd tone, then zi with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 影子 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one shadow is 一个影子 (yí ge yǐngzi).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yingzi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 影子 from the suggestions. Typing yingzi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
影子 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.