HSK 6 · Function Words

一向 yíxiàng “always” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 一向 means

  1. always
  2. all along
  3. consistently
  4. a period of time in the recent past
  5. (indicating a period of time up to the present) all along
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • the whole time

How to say 一向

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale一yí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale向xiàng4th tone, falling

Tone change. 一 is yī on its own. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí, and before the other tones yì. Textbooks write the change in, as here. How tone changes work

一向 in a sentence

  1. 我一向都早睡早起。

    Wǒ yíxiàng dōu zǎo shuì zǎo qǐ.

    I’ve always gone to bed early and got up early.

    Sentence #432923 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他穿衣服一向很随便，颜色、样式都无所谓。

    Tā chuān yīfu yíxiàng hěn suíbiàn, yánsè, yàngshì dōu wúsuǒwèi.

    He always dresses very casually, and doesn’t care about colour or style.

    Sentence #3709354 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他一向只关心具体问题。

    Tā yíxiàng zhǐ guānxīn jùtǐ wèntí.

    He has only ever cared about concrete issues.

    Sentence #2367540 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 一向 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 一 (yī) drawn as one shape
一yīoneyí in 一向

一 is a single shape of 1 stroke. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidOne stroke for one, the way people once counted with rods.

The character 向 (xiàng) drawn as one shape
向xiàngtowards

向 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a house with a window 口: facing, towards.

How to write 一向

一 1 strokes · 向 6 strokes

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

一向 (yíxiàng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 一向 (yíxiàng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 一向

Words with 一

一yī · one一半yībàn · half一些yīxiē · some一点儿yìdiǎnr · a little一起yìqǐ · together第一dìyī · first一下yíxià · (after a verb) briefly一般yìbān · general一定yídìng · surely一共yígòng · altogether

Words with 向

向xiàng · direction方向fāngxiàng · direction向来xiànglái · always外向wàixiàng · outgoing向往xiàngwǎng · to yearn for向导xiàngdǎo · guide导向dǎoxiàng · orientation倾向qīngxiàng · tendency意向yìxiàng · intention欣欣向荣xīnxīnxiàngróng · flourishing

More words: Function Words & Grammar

以免yǐmiǎn · so as not to迎面yíngmiàn · head-on毅然yìrán · resolutely一如既往yìrújìwǎng · as always以至yǐzhì · to such an extent that以致yǐzhì · with the result that勇于yǒngyú · to have the courage to犹如yóurú · just like

FAQs

一向 (yíxiàng) means “always” or “all along”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it yíxiàng: yí with a 2nd tone, then xiàng with a 4th tone. 一 is yī on its own. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí, and before the other tones yì. Textbooks write the change in, as here. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 一向 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yixiang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 一向 from the suggestions. Typing yixiang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
一向 is an HSK 6 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.