妹 meaning and stroke order
Younger sister
How to write 妹, 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
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- 3
- 4
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- 8
Meaning of 妹
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- younger sister
How 妹 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Woman.
女 gives the meaning and 未 hints at the sound.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 妹
妹 combines 女 (woman) with 未 (wèi, not yet), which gives the sound. Picture a girl who is "not yet" grown up like her older sister: your younger sister.
On its own 妹 is rarely used in speech; people say 妹妹 (mèimei) for a younger sister. It also appears in words like 姐妹 (jiěmèi, sisters) and 表妹 (biǎomèi, younger female cousin). Example: 我有一个妹妹。(Wǒ yǒu yí ge mèimei.) I have a younger sister.
Common mistake: Learners often write 末 (mò, end) instead of 未 on the right side. In 未 the top horizontal stroke is shorter than the lower one, while in 末 the top stroke is longer.
Common words with 妹
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 妹妹 | mèimei | younger sister; young woman | HSK 1 |
| 姐妹 | jiěmèi | sisters; siblings | HSK 4 |
| 妹子 | mèizi | (dialect) younger sister; girl | |
| 表妹 | biǎomèi | younger female cousin through a female relative | |
| 兄弟姐妹 | xiōngdìjiěmèi | brothers and sisters; siblings | |
| 小妹妹 | xiǎomèimei | little sister; little girl | |
| 辣妹 | làmèi | hot chick; sexy girl | |
| 姊妹 | zǐmèi | (older and younger) sisters; sister (school, city etc) | |
| 小妹 | xiǎomèi | little sister; girl | |
| 兄妹 | xiōngmèi | brother(s) and sister(s) | |
| 妹夫 | mèifu | younger sister's husband | |
| 弟妹 | dìmèi | younger sibling; younger brother's wife | |
| 老妹 | lǎomèi | (dialect) younger sister; familiar form of address for a younger woman | |
| 堂妹 | tángmèi | younger female patrilineal cousin |
妹 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 妹
How many strokes are in 妹?
妹 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 妹 mean?
妹 (mèi) means younger sister. A common word with it is 妹妹 (mèimei), meaning "younger sister; young woman".
How do you pronounce 妹?
妹 is pronounced mèi, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 妹?
The radical of 妹 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 妹 under this radical.
Is 妹 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 妹 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
How do you say older sister versus younger sister in Chinese?
Older sister is 姐姐 (jiějie) and younger sister is 妹妹 (mèimei). Chinese always distinguishes the two, so there is no single everyday word for just "sister."
Is the second 妹 in 妹妹 pronounced with a tone?
In 妹妹 the second syllable is usually read in the neutral tone, so it sounds like mèimei with a light, short second syllable. The first 妹 keeps its fourth tone.