焉
Tap the pinyin to hear it
where; how
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 火 +7
- Structure
- Top–middle–bottom 上中下
- Traditional
- 焉
- Common rank
- #2,576
- Unicode
- U+7109
Sound it out + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 焉 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
A bird 鳥 with a strange head
Words with 焉
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不入虎穴，焉得虎子 | How do you catch the tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair? (idiom); Nothing venture… | |
| 过而能改，善莫大焉 | If one can change after making a mistake, there is nothing better (idiom) | |
| 杀鸡焉用牛刀 | (lit.) why use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken?; (fig.) there's no need to use great abili… | |
| 心不在焉 | absent-minded; preoccupied; inattentive; with one's thoughts wandering | |
| 塞翁失马焉知非福 | the old man lost his mare, but it all turned out for the best (idiom); fig. a blessing in … | |
| 有子存焉 | I still have sons, don't I?; fig. future generations will continue the work | |
| 割鸡焉用牛刀 | see 殺雞焉用牛刀|杀鸡焉用牛刀[sha1 ji1 yan1 yong4 niu2 dao1] | |
| 功莫大焉 | no greater contribution has been made than this (idiom) | |
| 焉耆回族自治县 | Yanqi Hui Autonomous County, in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture 巴音郭楞蒙古自治州[Ba1 yin1… | |
| 语焉不详 | to mention sth without elaborating (idiom); not giving details | |
| 燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志 | lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom); fig. how can we… | |
| 焉知 | (literary) how is one to know? | |
| 于焉 | (classical) see 於是|于是[yu2 shi4] | |
| 异焉 | feeling surprised at sth | |
| 焉耆盆地 | Yanqi basin in northeast of Tarim basin | |
| 焉耆县 | see 焉耆回族自治縣|焉耆回族自治县[Yan1 qi2 Hui2 zu2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4] | |
| 焉耆 | see 焉耆回族自治縣|焉耆回族自治县[Yan1 qi2 Hui2 zu2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4] |
Sound family
These characters use 焉 as their sound component — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 焉 sound part | why? where? how?; strange; thereupon, then | |
| 蔫 | withered, faded, decayed; calm | |
| 嫣 | captivating, charming, fascinating | |
| 鄢 | a district in Henan province | |
| 傿 | the name of an immortal; surname |