涯 meaning and stroke order
Border, horizon; river bank, shore
How to write 涯, stroke by stroke
11 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
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
Meaning of 涯
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- border
- horizon
- shore
How 涯 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 厓 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 涯
Water 氵 meets a cliff 厓 (yá), and that edge is where the shore is. 厓 also gives the sound yá, so 涯 is the water's edge or boundary.
涯 rarely stands alone. It appears in fixed words like 生涯 (shēngyá, career, a span of life) and 天涯 (tiānyá, the far end of the world). Example: 他的演艺生涯很长。(Tā de yǎnyì shēngyá hěn cháng.) His acting career was long.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 涯 with 崖 (yá, cliff), which sounds the same but has 山 on top instead of 氵 on the left. Write 天涯 for a faraway place and 悬崖 (xuányá) for a cliff.
Common words with 涯
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
涯 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 涯
How many strokes are in 涯?
涯 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 涯 mean?
涯 (yá) means border, horizon; river bank, shore. A common word with it is 生涯 (shēngyá), meaning "career; life (way in which sb lives)".
How do you pronounce 涯?
涯 is pronounced yá, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 涯?
The radical of 涯 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 涯 under this radical.
Is 涯 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 涯 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 天涯海角 mean and when is it used?
It literally means the edge of the sky and the corner of the sea, so it means the ends of the earth. People use it for great distance, as in 天涯海角我都跟着你 (I will follow you to the ends of the earth).
Is 生涯 the same as 职业 for career?
Not quite. 职业 (zhíyè) is your occupation or profession, while 生涯 describes the whole course of a career or life stage, like 职业生涯 (career path) or 学生生涯 (student years).