雁 meaning and stroke order
Wild goose
How to write 雁, stroke by stroke
12 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 雁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- wild goose
- variant of 雁[yan4]
How 雁 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bird.
隹 gives the meaning.
Radical: 隹 (short-tailed bird), shared by 32 characters on this site.
How to remember 雁
Under the cliff 厂 stands a person 亻 next to a short-tailed bird 隹, watching it. Picture someone at a cliff edge looking up at wild geese flying past, and the bird part 隹 tells you this character is about a bird.
雁 (yàn) usually appears in the word 大雁 (dàyàn) in everyday speech, and it is common in poetry as a symbol of autumn, travel, and letters from far away. Example: 秋天大雁往南飞。(Qiūtiān dàyàn wǎng nán fēi.) In autumn the wild geese fly south.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes confuse 雁 (yàn) with 鹰 (yīng, eagle), because both are bird characters built under a 厂 or 广 frame. Remember that 鹰 uses 广 and has 鸟 at the bottom, while 雁 uses 厂 with 亻 and 隹 inside.
Common words with 雁
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 大雁 | dàyàn | wild goose | HSK 7-9 |
| 雪雁 | xuěyàn | (bird species of China) snow goose (Anser caerulescens) |
Characters that contain 雁
Learning 雁 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 雁
How many strokes are in 雁?
雁 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 雁 mean?
雁 (yàn) means wild goose. A common word with it is 大雁 (dàyàn), meaning "wild goose".
How do you pronounce 雁?
雁 is pronounced yàn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 雁?
The radical of 雁 is 隹, which carries the idea of "short-tailed bird". Dictionaries list 雁 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 雁?
The traditional form of 雁 is 鴈. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 雁 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 雁 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 雁 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 雁 and 鹅?
雁 (yàn) is a wild goose that migrates, while 鹅 (é) is usually a domestic goose raised on farms. If you mean the bird you see flying in a V shape in autumn, use 大雁.
Why do wild geese show up so often in Chinese poems?
Because geese migrate south every autumn, 雁 became a common image for homesickness and the changing seasons in classical poetry. Geese were also linked to carrying letters, so 雁 can suggest news from far away.