HSK 5 · Ideas

意义 yìyì “sense” in Chinese

Traditional 意義

What 意义 means

  1. sense
  2. meaning
  3. significance
  4. importance

Measure word 个 gè · 一个意义 yí ge yìyì

How to say 意义

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale意yì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale义yì4th tone, falling

意义 in a sentence

  1. 没有爱的人生没有意义。

    Méiyǒu ài de rénshēng méiyǒu yìyì.

    Life without love is meaningless.

    Sentence #2065330 from Tatoeba

  2. 这是本有教育意义的书。

    Zhè shì běn yǒu jiàoyù yìyì de shū.

    This is an educational book.

    Sentence #1926127 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 这么拼命工作有什么意义？

    Zhème pīnmìng gōngzuò yǒu shénme yìyì?

    What’s the point of working so hard?

    Sentence #1883656 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 意义 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 意 (yì) with each of its parts in a different colour
意yìidea; thought; meaning; sense
  • 音sound · yīnSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 音 (yīn) hints at the sound. Compare it with yì.

Memory aidA sound 音 from the heart 心: a thought, a meaning.

The character 义 (yì) with each of its parts in a different colour
义yìjustice
  • 丶dot · zhǔ
  • 乂to govern · yìSound part

⺷ hints at the meaning (sheep); 乂 (yì) hints at the sound. Compare it with yì.

How to write 意义

意 13 strokes · 义 3 strokes

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

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

Words related to 意义

Words with 意

意思yìsi · meaning没意思méiyìsi · boring有意思yǒuyìsi · interesting不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed同意tóngyì · agree愿意yuànyì · be willing注意zhùyì · pay attention to满意mǎnyì · satisfied意见yìjiàn · idea得意déyì · proud of oneself

Words with 义

义务yìwù · duty贬义biǎnyì · negative connotation正义zhèngyì · justice定义dìngyì · definition含义hányì · meaning主义zhǔyì · -ism见义勇为jiànyìyǒngwéi · to act bravely for a just cause

More words: Ideas & Concepts

形象xíngxiàng · image形状xíngzhuàng · form性质xìngzhì · nature样式yàngshì · type因素yīnsù · element用途yòngtú · use优势yōushì · superiority原则yuánzé · principle

FAQs

意义 (yìyì) means “sense” or “meaning”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it yìyì: yì with a 4th tone, then yì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 意义 is written 意義. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one sense is 一个意义 (yí ge yìyì).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yiyi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 意义 from the suggestions. Typing yiyi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
意义 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.