嫩 meaning and stroke order
Young and tender; (of food) tender; lightly cooked; (of color) light
How to write 嫩, 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 嫩
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- young and tender
- (of food) tender; lightly cooked
- (of color) light
- (of a person) inexperienced; unskilled
- old variant of 嫩[nen4]
How 嫩 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Woman.
女 gives the meaning and 敕 hints at the sound.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 嫩
嫩 (nèn) has 女 (woman) on the left as the meaning part, and 敕 on the right as the sound part. Picture something soft and delicate next to the 女 side, like a young, tender sprout.
嫩 describes young leaves, tender meat, light colors, and people who are still green or inexperienced. It often appears in words like 嫩绿 (nènlǜ, light tender green) and 鲜嫩 (xiānnèn, fresh and tender). Example: 这块牛肉很嫩。(Zhè kuài niúròu hěn nèn.) This beef is very tender.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 束 plus 欠 or forget the 攵 part, but the component is 敕, which is 束 plus 攵. Also keep the tone falling, nèn, not the second tone.
嫩 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 嫩
How many strokes are in 嫩?
嫩 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 嫩 mean?
嫩 (nèn) means young and tender; (of food) tender; lightly cooked; (of color) light.
How do you pronounce 嫩?
嫩 is pronounced nèn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 嫩?
The radical of 嫩 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 嫩 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 嫩?
The traditional form of 嫩 is 嫰. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 嫩 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 嫩 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 嫩 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say someone is too inexperienced using 嫩?
You can say 他还太嫩了 (tā hái tài nèn le), meaning he is still too green. A common phrase is 嫩了点 (nèn le diǎn), a bit inexperienced. It can sound teasing, so use it with care.
What is the opposite of 嫩 when talking about food?
For meat or vegetables, the usual opposite is 老 (lǎo), meaning tough or overcooked. For example, 肉炒老了 (ròu chǎo lǎo le) means the meat was stir-fried too long and got tough.