呢
2 readings · tap one to hear it
(sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation still holds; (discourse particle) used to mark a slight pause or emphasis in speech
- HSK 3.0
- Level 1
- Old HSK
- Level 1
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 口 +5
- Structure
- Left–right 左右
- Traditional
- 呢
- Common rank
- #2,598
- Unicode
- U+5462
Sound it out + = · + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
Words with 呢
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 格子花呢 | tartan; plaid | |
| 格子呢 | checked woolen fabric; plaid | |
| 台面呢 | (billiards) baize | |
| 华达呢 | (loanword) gabardine | |
| 制服呢 | (textiles) uniform coating; durable, warm fabric used for uniforms | |
| 管他呢 | don’t worry about (it, him etc); doesn’t matter; whatever; anyway | |
| 呢子 | dense wool fabric (used for coats and jackets) | |
| 花呢 | fancy suiting | |
| 着呢 | comes at the end of the sentence to indicate a strong degree; quite; rather | |
| 软呢 | soft, pliable wool fabric | |
| 呢喃细语 | whispering in a low voice (idiom); murmuring | |
| 怎么说呢 | Why is that?; How come? | |
| 呢呢痴痴 | docile | |
| 呢呢 | garrulous; talkative | |
| 呢喃 | (onom.) twittering of birds; whispering; murmuring | |
| 唵嘛呢叭咪吽 | om mani padme hum (Buddhist mantra) |
Sound family
Characters sharing the sound component 尼 — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 尼 sound part | Buddhist nun; used in transliterations | |
| 泥 | mud, earth, clay; plaster, paste | |
| 妮 | maid, servant girl; cute girl | |
| 昵 | close, intimate; to approach | |
| 怩 | timid, shy; bashful, ashamed | |
| 旎 | romantic; the fluttering of a flag | |
| 伲 | we (Shanghai dialect) | |
| 坭 | mud, mire; to paste, to plaster | |
| 铌 | niobium |