疼 meaning and stroke order
(it) hurts; sore; to love dearly
How to write 疼, stroke by stroke
10 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 疼
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (it) hurts; sore
- to love dearly
How 疼 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Sickness.
疒 gives the meaning and 冬 hints at the sound.
Radical: 疒 (sickness), shared by 127 characters on this site.
How to remember 疼
疼 is built from the sickness radical 疒, which wraps around 冬 (dōng, winter). Picture being sick in the cold of winter, when your whole body aches, and 冬 also hints at the sound, since dōng and téng both end in -ng.
疼 is the everyday word for physical pain and usually comes right after the body part that hurts. It can also mean to dote on someone, as in 疼爱 (téng'ài) or 心疼 (xīnténg). Example: 我头很疼。(Wǒ tóu hěn téng.) My head really hurts.
Common mistake: Learners often write 冬 alone without the 疒 frame, or confuse 疼 with 痛 (tòng), which looks similar and also means pain. 疼 is more colloquial for saying something hurts right now, while 痛 sounds more formal or literary.
Common words with 疼
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
疼 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 疼
How many strokes are in 疼?
疼 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 疼 mean?
疼 (téng) means (it) hurts; sore; to love dearly. A common word with it is 心疼 (xīnténg), meaning "to love dearly; to feel sorry for sb".
How do you pronounce 疼?
疼 is pronounced téng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 疼?
The radical of 疼 is 疒, which carries the idea of "sickness". Dictionaries list 疼 under this radical.
Is 疼 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 疼 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
What is the difference between 疼 and 痛?
Both mean pain, and they combine in 疼痛 (téngtòng). In spoken Mandarin, especially in northern China, 疼 is the usual choice for "it hurts", as in 肚子疼 (dùzi téng). 痛 appears more in writing and in fixed words like 痛苦 (tòngkǔ, suffering).
How can 疼 mean both pain and love?
The love sense comes from feeling pain on someone's behalf. 心疼 (xīnténg) literally means "heart hurts" and is used when you feel sorry for someone or cherish them. For example, 奶奶很疼我 (Nǎinai hěn téng wǒ) means "Grandma dotes on me."