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林

Tap the pinyin to hear it

(bound form) woods; forest; (bound form) circle(s) (i.e. specific group of people); (bound form) a collection (of similar things)

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HSK 3.0
Level 4
Old HSK
Level 4
Strokes
8
Radical
木 +4
Structure
Left–right 左右
Traditional
林
Common rank
#142
Unicode
U+6797

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 林 is formed

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Two trees 木 representing a forest

Components 木 ×2

How to remember it

woods · Heisig RSH #203

木 tree

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 林

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

WordPinyinMeaning
林克平大学 Lín kè píng Dà xué Linköping University, Sweden
斯大林 Sī dà lín Joseph Stalin (1879-1953), Soviet dictator
海林市 Hǎi lín Shì Hailin, a county-level city in Mudanjiang City 牡丹江市[Mu3 dan1 jiang1 Shi4], Heilongjiang
金林区 Jīn lín Qū Jinlin, a district of Yichun City 伊春市[Yi1 chun1 Shi4], Heilongjiang
上林县 Shàng lín Xiàn Shanglin, a county in Nanning City 南寧市|南宁市[Nan2 ning2 Shi4], Guangxi
林西县 Lín xī Xiàn Linxi, a county in Chifeng City 赤峰市[Chi4 feng1 Shi4], Inner Mongolia
西林县 Xī lín Xiàn Xilin, a county in Baise City 百色市[Bai3 se4 Shi4], Guangxi
斯大林主义 Sī dà lín zhǔ yì Stalinism
林口县 Lín kǒu Xiàn Linkou, a county in Mudanjiang City 牡丹江市[Mu3 dan1 jiang1 Shi4], Heilongjiang
林子 lín zi woods; grove; forest
林区 lín qū region of forest
林县 Lín xiàn Lin county in Henan
山林 shān lín wooded mountain; mountain forest
人工林 rén gōng lín planted forest
新林区 Xīn lín Qū Xinlin, a district of Daxing'anling Prefecture 大興安嶺地區|大兴安岭地区[Da4 xing1 an1 ling3 Di4 qu1],…
林学 lín xué forestry
石林县 Shí lín Xiàn see 石林彝族自治縣|石林彝族自治县[Shi2 lin2 Yi2 zu2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4]
林地 lín dì woodland
小林 Xiǎo lín Kobayashi (Japanese surname)
马林巴 mǎ lín bā (loanword) marimba

Sound family

These characters use 林 as their sound component — compare how they read.

CharacterPinyinMeaning
林 sound part lín forest, grove; surname
禁 jìn to restrict, to prohibit, to forbid; to endure
淋 lín to drench, to drip, to soak; perfectly
琳 lín a beautiful gemstone
彬 bīn ornamental; cultivated, refined, well-bred
啉 lín stupid; slow
霖 lín monsoon; a long spell of rain
婪 lán to covet; covetous, avaricious
痲 má pock-marked; measles; leprosy
郴 chēn a county in Hunan province; surname