年 meaning and stroke order
Year
How to write 年, stroke by stroke
6 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
- 4
- 5
- 6
Meaning of 年
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- year
- grain
- harvest (old)
- variant of 年[nian2]
How 年 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A man 干 carrying grain, representing the annual harvest.
Radical: 干 (arid), shared by 5 characters on this site.
How to remember 年
Picture a man carrying a load of grain on his back, built around 干. Bringing in the harvest happens once every cycle, so the character came to mean year 年 (nián).
年 is used for years, ages, and time words like 今年 (jīnnián) this year and 明年 (míngnián) next year. It is also a measure word itself, so you say 三年 (sān nián) three years without adding 个. Example: 我学中文两年了。(Wǒ xué Zhōngwén liǎng nián le.) I have been studying Chinese for two years.
Common mistake: Learners often write 个 before 年, as in 三个年, but 年 takes numbers directly: 三年. Also do not confuse 年 with 午 (wǔ, noon), which looks similar but lacks the extra horizontal strokes on the left.
Common words with 年
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 今年 | jīnnián | this year | HSK 1 |
| 去年 | qùnián | last year | HSK 1 |
| 明年 | míngnián | next year | HSK 1 |
| 半年 | bàn nián | half a year | HSK 1 |
| 新年 | xīnnián | New Year | HSK 1 |
| 年轻 | niánqīng | young | HSK 2 |
| 少年 | shàonián | early youth; youngster | HSK 2 |
| 青年 | qīngnián | youth; youthful years | HSK 2 |
| 青少年 | qīng-shàonián | adolescent; youth | HSK 2 |
| 周年 | zhōunián | anniversary; annual | HSK 2 |
| 年级 | niánjí | grade; year (in school, college etc) | HSK 2 |
| 中年 | zhōngnián | middle age | HSK 2 |
| 老年 | lǎonián | elderly; old age | HSK 2 |
| 过年 | guònián | to celebrate the Chinese New Year | HSK 2 |
年 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 年
How many strokes are in 年?
年 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 年 mean?
年 (nián) means year. A common word with it is 今年 (jīnnián), meaning "this year".
How do you pronounce 年?
年 is pronounced nián, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 年?
The radical of 年 is 干, which carries the idea of "arid". Dictionaries list 年 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 年?
The traditional form of 年 is 秊. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 年 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 年 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 年 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 1.
How do I say a specific year like 2024 in Chinese?
Read each digit separately and add 年: 二零二四年 (èr líng èr sì nián). Do not read it as a full number like two thousand twenty-four.
Can 年 be used to ask someone's age?
Not directly. To ask age you usually say 你多大？(Nǐ duō dà?) or, politely to older people, 您多大年纪？(Nín duō dà niánjì?). Here 年纪 (niánjì) means age.