邻 meaning and stroke order
Neighbor; neighborhood
How to write 邻, stroke by stroke
7 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 邻
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- neighbor
- adjacent
- close to
- variant of 鄰|邻[lin2]
How 邻 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Town.
阝 gives the meaning and 令 hints at the sound.
Radical: 阝 (place), shared by 160 characters on this site.
How to remember 邻
The right side 阝 is the town radical, so 邻 (lín) is about people in the same town. The left side 令 (lìng) gives a hint of the sound: someone living right next to you in town is your neighbor.
邻 (lín) usually appears inside words rather than alone. The most common is 邻居 (línjū) for the people next door, and 邻近 (línjìn) or 邻国 (línguó) for places that border each other. Example: 我的邻居很友好。(Wǒ de línjū hěn yǒuhǎo.) My neighbor is very friendly.
Common mistake: Learners often write 邻 with 冷 (lěng, cold) or 铃 (líng, bell) in mind, because all three share 令. Check that the right side is 阝, the town radical. Also keep the tone on 邻 as second tone (lín), not the fourth tone of 令 (lìng).
Common words with 邻
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
邻 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 邻
How many strokes are in 邻?
邻 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 邻 mean?
邻 (lín) means neighbor; neighborhood. A common word with it is 邻居 (línjū), meaning "neighbor".
How do you pronounce 邻?
邻 is pronounced lín, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 邻?
The radical of 邻 is 阝, which carries the idea of "place". Dictionaries list 邻 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 邻?
The traditional form of 邻 is 鄰 and 隣. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 邻 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 邻 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 邻 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 邻居 and 邻里?
邻居 (línjū) is the everyday word for a neighbor or the people next door. 邻里 (línlǐ) is more formal and refers to the neighborhood or neighbors as a community, as in 邻里关系 (línlǐ guānxì), neighborhood relations.
Can 邻 be used by itself to mean neighbor?
In modern speech, 邻 is rarely used alone. It shows up in set words like 邻居 and 邻国, and in fixed phrases such as 远亲不如近邻 (yuǎnqīn bùrú jìnlín), a close neighbor is better than a distant relative.