夕 meaning and stroke order
Evening, night, dusk; slanted
How to write 夕, stroke by stroke
3 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
Meaning of 夕
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) sunset; dusk
- (bound form) evening; night
- Taiwan pr. [xi4]
How 夕 is built
Pictographic character. A crescent moon.
How to remember 夕
夕 (xī) is a picture of a crescent moon. Think of the hooked outer stroke 勹 as the curve of the moon and the small dot 丶 inside as its light, the moon you see as evening falls.
夕 is a bound form, so it rarely stands alone and appears inside words like 夕阳 (xīyáng, setting sun), 除夕 (chúxī, New Year's Eve) and 前夕 (qiánxī, the eve of). For everyday "evening" in speech, people say 晚上 (wǎnshang) instead. Example: 我们除夕一起吃饭。(Wǒmen chúxī yìqǐ chīfàn.) We eat together on New Year's Eve.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 夕 with 歹 (dǎi, bad), which has an extra horizontal stroke on top, and with 多 (duō, many), which is two 夕 stacked. Also note that 夕 is first tone xī in mainland Mandarin, even though Taiwan uses xì.
Common words with 夕
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
夕 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 夕
Learning 夕 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 夕
How many strokes are in 夕?
夕 is written with 3 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 夕 mean?
夕 (xī) means evening, night, dusk; slanted. A common word with it is 除夕 (chúxī), meaning "lunar New Year's Eve".
How do you pronounce 夕?
夕 is pronounced xī, in the first tone (high and level).
Is 夕 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 夕 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Why does 多 contain two 夕 characters?
The character 多 (duō) is written as two 夕 stacked together, so you can remember it as "evening after evening", meaning many. This is a memory aid based on its shape, and it helps you write 多 correctly.
What does 朝夕 mean in 朝夕相处?
朝 (zhāo) means morning and 夕 means evening, so 朝夕 together means from morning to night, or all the time. 朝夕相处 (zhāoxī-xiāngchǔ) describes people who spend all their time together, like close coworkers or family.