飲 meaning and stroke order
To swallow, to drink; a kind of drink
How to write 飲, 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.
- 1
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Meaning of 飲
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to drink
- to give (animals) water to drink
How 飲 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Food.
飠 gives the meaning and 欠 hints at the sound.
Radical: 飠 (food), shared by 44 characters on this site.
How to remember 飲
On the left is 飠, the food radical, and on the right is 欠 (qiàn), a person opening their mouth wide. Picture someone with an open mouth next to food and drink, taking a big swallow.
飲 is the traditional form of 饮 and appears in formal or written words for drinking rather than casual speech, where people usually say 喝 (hē). You see it in words like 飲料 (yǐnliào, beverage) and 飲食 (yǐnshí, diet). Example: 請勿飲酒駕車。(Qǐng wù yǐnjiǔ jiàchē.) Please do not drink and drive.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 次 or 吹 instead of 欠. Keep 欠 on its own with no extra strokes. Also avoid using 飲 in everyday speech, where 我想喝水 sounds natural and 我想飲水 sounds stiff.
Common words with 飲
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 飲料 | yǐnliào | drink; beverage | HSK 5 |
| 飲食 | yǐnshí | eating and drinking; food and drink; diet | HSK 5 |
| 餐飲 | cānyǐn | food and beverage; catering | HSK 5 |
| 飲用水 | yǐnyòngshuǐ | drinking water; potable water | HSK 7-9 |
| 飲水 | yǐn shuǐ | to drink water; drinking water | HSK 7-9 |
| 飲酒 | yǐnjiǔ | to drink wine | |
| 飲用 | yǐnyòng | drink; drinking or drinkable (water) | |
| 飲品 | yǐnpǐn | beverage | |
| 暢飲 | chàngyǐn | to have a few drinks; to drink to one's heart's content | |
| 冷飲 | lěngyǐn | cold drink |
Questions about 飲
How many strokes are in 飲?
飲 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 飲 mean?
飲 (yǐn) means to swallow, to drink; a kind of drink. A common word with it is 饮料 (yǐnliào), meaning "drink; beverage".
How do you pronounce 飲?
飲 is pronounced yǐn, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 飲?
The radical of 飲 is 飠, which carries the idea of "food". Dictionaries list 飲 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 飲?
飲 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 饮, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 飲 and 喝?
Both mean to drink, but 喝 (hē) is the normal spoken word. 飲 (yǐn) is more formal or literary and mostly appears in compound words, signs, and written Chinese.
When is 飲 read with the fourth tone yìn?
Read as yìn, it means to give animals water to drink, as in 飲馬 (yìn mǎ, to water a horse). This reading is rare in modern Chinese, so yǐn is the one you will use almost all the time.