TraceHanzi

妳 meaning and stroke order

nǎi

You (female)

8 strokesRadical 女Simplified 你Simplified 奶
Strokes8
Pinyinnǎi
ToneTone 3
Frequency#835
Printable worksheet

How to write 妳, stroke by stroke

8 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. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8

Meaning of 妳

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

nǐthird tone (dipping)
  1. you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.)
nǎithird tone (dipping)
  1. variant of 嬭|奶[nai3]

How 妳 is built

Ideographic (compound meaning) character. You 尔 (female) 女.

nǚfemale+ěryou

Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.

How to remember 妳

妳 puts 女 (woman) next to 尔, an old word for "you". Together they mean "you" when speaking to a woman.

In Taiwan and in many traditional-character texts, 妳 (nǐ) is used for "you" when addressing a woman or girl. In mainland China, people simply write 你 for everyone. Example: 妳好嗎？(Nǐ hǎo ma?) How are you?

Common mistake: Learners often read 妳 as nǎi because of the variant reading, but when it means "you" it is pronounced nǐ, exactly like 你. Also, don't swap 女 for 亻: 你 uses the person radical, while 妳 uses the woman radical.

妳 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

妳nǐ怕pà不bù怕pà雷léi电diàn交jiāo加jiā的de夜yè晚wǎn？
Are you afraid of nights with thunder and lightning?
快kuài来lái吧ba，我wǒ真zhēn的de很hěn想xiǎng见jiàn妳nǐ们men。
Please come. I really want to meet you.
「妳nǐ真zhēn的de要yào报bào警jǐng吗ma？」我wǒ问wèn她tā。
"Are you sure you want to call the police?" I asked her.
我wǒ会huì尽jǐn量liàng帮bāng助zhù妳nǐ们men的de。
I'll help you if I can.
妳nǐ还hái记jì得de我wǒ的de名míng字zì吗ma ?
Do you still remember my name?

Questions about 妳

How many strokes are in 妳?

妳 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 妳 mean?

妳 (nǎi) means you (female).

How do you pronounce 妳?

妳 is pronounced nǎi, in the third tone (dipping).

What is the radical of 妳?

The radical of 妳 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 妳 under this radical.

What is the simplified form of 妳?

妳 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 你 and 奶, used in mainland China and Singapore.

Is it wrong to use 你 when talking to a woman?

No. 你 is correct for anyone in all regions, and it is the standard choice in mainland China. 妳 is an optional, more specific form mainly used in Taiwan.

When is 妳 read as nǎi?

The nǎi reading treats 妳 as a variant of 奶 (nǎi), related to milk or breasts. This use is rare today, and 奶 is the normal way to write it.