银 meaning and stroke order
Silver; silver-colored; relating to money or currency
How to write 银, 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
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- 11
Meaning of 银
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- silver
- silver-colored
- relating to money or currency
How 银 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Money.
钅 gives the meaning and 艮 hints at the sound.
Radical: 钅 (gold), shared by 223 characters on this site.
How to remember 银
银 is a pictophonetic character. The metal radical 钅 on the left tells you it is a metal, and 艮 (gèn) on the right gives a hint of the sound, so think of it as the metal people once used as money.
银 (yín) rarely appears alone in modern speech. It mostly shows up in words like 银行 (yínháng, bank), 银色 (yínsè, silver color) and 银牌 (yínpái, silver medal). Example: 我去银行取钱。(Wǒ qù yínháng qǔ qián.) I am going to the bank to withdraw money.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 银 (yín) with 很 (hěn) or 根 (gēn), which share the 艮 part. Check the left side: only 银 has the metal radical 钅.
Common words with 银
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 银行 | yínháng | bank | HSK 2 |
| 银行卡 | yínhángkǎ | bank card | HSK 2 |
| 银牌 | yínpái | silver medal | HSK 3 |
| 银幕 | yínmù | movie screen | HSK 7-9 |
| 银行家 | yínhángjiā | banker | |
| 银色 | yínsè | silver (color) | |
| 银子 | yínzi | money; silver | |
| 银币 | yínbì | silver coin | |
| 银器 | yínqì | silverware | |
| 收银员 | shōuyínyuán | cashier; checkout clerk | |
| 投资银行 | tóuzīyínháng | investment bank | |
| 水银 | shuǐyín | mercury; quicksilver | |
| 收银机 | shōuyínjī | cash register; check out counter | |
| 白银 | Báiyín | silver |
银 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 银
How many strokes are in 银?
银 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 银 mean?
银 (yín) means silver; silver-colored; relating to money or currency. A common word with it is 银行 (yínháng), meaning "bank".
How do you pronounce 银?
银 is pronounced yín, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 银?
The radical of 银 is 钅, which carries the idea of "gold". Dictionaries list 银 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 银?
The traditional form of 银 is 銀. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 银 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 银 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 银 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.
Why does the word for bank, 银行, use the character for silver?
Silver was used as currency in China for a long time, so 银 came to be linked with money. 银行 literally combines silver with 行 (háng), a business or firm. Note that 行 is read háng here, not xíng.
Is 银子 still used to mean money today?
银子 (yínzi) sounds old-fashioned and appears mostly in historical dramas or in joking speech. In everyday modern Chinese, people simply say 钱 (qián) for money.