吶 meaning and stroke order
To raise one's voice; to yell, to shout; to stammer
How to write 吶, stroke by stroke
7 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 吶
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- battle cry
- sentence-final particle (abbr. for 呢啊[ne5 a5] or variant of 哪[na5])
How 吶 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 內 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 吶
A mouth 口 on the left gives the meaning of using your voice, and 內 (nèi) on the right gives the sound. Picture a shout rising from deep inside 內 and coming out of the mouth 口.
吶 is the traditional form of 呐, and today it mostly appears in the word 呐喊 (nàhǎn), a shout or rallying cry. Example: 士兵们齐声呐喊。(Shìbīngmen qíshēng nàhǎn.) The soldiers shouted together. In casual speech it can also be a light sentence-final particle, read na with a neutral tone.
Common mistake: Learners often read it as nèi because of the 內 component, but the correct reading is nà. Also do not confuse it with 纳 (nà, to accept), which has the silk radical 纟 instead of the mouth 口.
Common words with 吶
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 吶喊 | nàhǎn | shout; rallying cry | HSK 7-9 |
Questions about 吶
How many strokes are in 吶?
吶 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 吶 mean?
吶 (nà) means to raise one's voice; to yell, to shout; to stammer. A common word with it is 呐喊 (nàhǎn), meaning "shout; rallying cry".
How do you pronounce 吶?
吶 is pronounced nà, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 吶?
The radical of 吶 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 吶 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 吶?
吶 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 呐, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What does 呐喊 mean in the title of Lu Xun's book?
呐喊 is the title of Lu Xun's 1923 story collection, usually translated as Call to Arms or Outcry. Here it means a loud cry meant to wake people up.
When is 吶 read with a neutral tone?
When it is a sentence-final particle, it is read na with no tone, much like 哪 or a blend of 呢啊. Example: 谢谢你呐 (xièxie nǐ na), thank you. This use is informal and sounds friendly.