境 meaning and stroke order
Boundary, frontier; area, region
How to write 境, stroke by stroke
14 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 境
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- border
- place
- condition
- boundary
- circumstances
- territory
How 境 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Earth.
土 gives the meaning and 竟 hints at the sound.
Radical: 土 (soil), shared by 183 characters on this site.
How to remember 境
境 is pictophonetic: 土 (earth) on the left gives the meaning of land, and 竟 (jìng) on the right gives the sound. Picture the place where a stretch of earth comes to its end, and you have a border.
境 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in words about borders, like 边境 (biānjìng) and 入境 (rùjìng), and in words about situations, like 环境 (huánjìng) and 困境 (kùnjìng). Example: 这里的环境很好。(Zhèlǐ de huánjìng hěn hǎo.) The environment here is very nice.
Common mistake: Learners often write 镜 (jìng, mirror) instead of 境, because both share 竟 and the same sound. Remember that 境 takes 土 for land, while 镜 takes 钅 for metal, since old mirrors were made of metal.
Common words with 境
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 环境 | huánjìng | environment; circumstances | HSK 3 |
| 边境 | biānjìng | frontier; border | HSK 5 |
| 处境 | chǔjìng | situation (of a person) | HSK 7-9 |
| 困境 | kùnjìng | predicament; plight | HSK 7-9 |
| 境地 | jìngdì | circumstances | HSK 7-9 |
| 境界 | jìngjiè | boundary; state | HSK 7-9 |
| 入境 | rùjìng | to enter a country | HSK 7-9 |
| 境内 | jìngnèi | within the borders; internal (to a country, province, city etc) | HSK 7-9 |
| 出境 | chūjìng | to leave a country or region; outbound (tourism) | HSK 7-9 |
| 过境 | guòjìng | to pass through a country's territory; transit | HSK 7-9 |
| 境遇 | jìngyù | circumstance | HSK 7-9 |
| 家境 | jiājìng | family financial situation; family circumstances | HSK 7-9 |
| 境外 | jìngwài | outside (a country's) borders | HSK 7-9 |
| 梦境 | mèngjìng | dreamland |
境 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 境
How many strokes are in 境?
境 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 境 mean?
境 (jìng) means boundary, frontier; area, region. A common word with it is 环境 (huánjìng), meaning "environment; circumstances".
How do you pronounce 境?
境 is pronounced jìng, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 境?
The radical of 境 is 土, which carries the idea of "soil". Dictionaries list 境 under this radical.
Is 境 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 境 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What is the difference between 环境 and 处境?
环境 (huánjìng) means the surroundings or environment in general, like a city or workplace. 处境 (chǔjìng) means the situation a particular person is in, and it is often used for difficult positions.
How do 入境 and 出境 work at the airport?
入境 (rùjìng) means entering a country and 出境 (chūjìng) means leaving it. You will see them on immigration signs and forms, for example 入境卡 (rùjìng kǎ), an arrival card.