HSK 4 · Time

永远 yǒngyuǎn “forever” in Chinese

Said as yóngyuǎn

Traditional 永遠

What 永远 means

  1. forever
  2. eternal

How to say 永远

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale永yǒng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale远yuǎn3rd tone, dipping

Said as yóngyuǎn. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

永远 in a sentence

  1. 我们永远都会是朋友。

    Wǒmen yǒngyuǎn dōu huì shì péngyou.

    We’ll always be friends.

    Sentence #465833 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我永远不会忘记您的帮助。

    Wǒ yǒngyuǎn búhuì wàngjì nín de bāngzhù.

    I’ll never forget your help.

    Sentence #10182799 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你永远不知道会发生什么。

    Nǐ yǒngyuǎn bù zhīdao huì fāshēng shénme.

    You never know what might happen.

    Sentence #4459714 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 永远 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 永 (yǒng) drawn as one shape
永yǒngforever

永 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

The character 远 (yuǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
远yuǎnfar
  • 元first · yuánSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 元 (yuán) hints at the sound. Compare it with yuǎn.

How to write 永远

永 5 strokes · 远 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 永远

Words with 永

永恒yǒnghéng · eternal

Words with 远

远yuǎn · far遥远yáoyuǎn · distant疏远shūyuǎn · to drift apart任重道远rènzhòngdàoyuǎn · to carry a heavy responsibility (lit. heavy load

More words: Time

号hào · number年nián · year上午shàngwǔ · morning (forenoon)偶尔ǒu'ěr · occasionally平时píngshí · ordinarily世纪shìjì · century同时tóngshí · at the same time暂时zànshí · temporary

FAQs

永远 (yǒngyuǎn) means “forever” or “eternal”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it yǒngyuǎn: yǒng with a 3rd tone, then yuǎn with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like yóngyuǎn. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. 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, 永远 is written 永遠. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yongyuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 永远 from the suggestions. Typing yongyuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
永远 is an HSK 4 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.