HSK 5 · Function Words

依然 yīrán “still” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 依然 means

  1. still
  2. as before

How to say 依然

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale依yī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale然rán2nd tone, rising

依然 in a sentence

  1. 你依然和父母住一起吗?

    Nǐ yīrán hé fùmǔ zhù yìqǐ ma?

    Do you still live with your parents?

    Sentence #5091274 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 下雨了,但是我依然需要出去。

    Xiàyǔ le, dànshì wǒ yīrán xūyào chūqù.

    It was raining, but I still needed to go out.

    Sentence #10059144 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他有他的缺点,但是我依然喜欢他。

    Tā yǒu tā de quēdiǎn, dànshì wǒ yīrán xǐhuan tā.

    He has his faults, but I still like him.

    Sentence #6017345 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 依然 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 依 (yī) with each of its parts in a different colour
依yīto depend on
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 衣clothes · yīSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 衣 (yī) hints at the sound. Compare it with yī.

The character 然 (rán) with each of its parts in a different colour
然ráncorrect
  • 肰dog meat · ránSound part
  • 灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part

灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 肰 (rán) hints at the sound. Compare it with rán.

Memory aidFire 灬 under meat 肰. Its first meaning was “to burn”, now written 燃 (rán).

How to write 依然

依 8 strokes · 然 12 strokes

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

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

Words related to 依然

Words with 依

Words with 然

More words: Function Words & Grammar

FAQs

依然 (yīrán) means “still” or “as before”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it yīrán: yī with a 1st tone, then rán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 依然 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yiran with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 依然 from the suggestions. Typing yiran into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
依然 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.