Meaning of 信
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- letter
- to trust
- to believe
- to profess faith in
- truthful
- confidence
- trust
Measure word: 封
How to use 信
On its own, 信 (xìn) usually means a letter, and it also means to believe or trust, especially in set phrases. In daily speech, 相信 (xiāngxìn) is the normal verb for "to believe." Example: 我给妈妈写了一封信。(Wǒ gěi māma xiě le yì fēng xìn.) I wrote my mother a letter.
信 is made of 亻 (person) next to 言 (speech). A person standing by their words is someone you can trust, and words a person sends you become a letter.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 信心 (xìnxīn, confidence) with 信息 (xìnxī, information) because they sound almost the same. Check the second syllable: 心 (xīn) ends in -n, while 息 (xī) has no -n.
信 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
信 xìn · letter · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 信.
| 相信 | xiāngxìn | to believe; to be convinced; to accept as true |
| 信息 | xìnxī | information; news; message |
| 信号 | xìnhào | signal |
| 信心 | xìnxīn | confidence; faith (in sb or sth) |
| 短信 | duǎnxìn | text message; SMS |
| 信用卡 | xìnyòngkǎ | credit card |
| 信任 | xìnrèn | to trust; to have confidence in |
| 信封 | xìnfēng | envelope |
| 通信 | tōngxìn | to correspond (by letter, email etc); to send or receive messages through telecommunicatio |
| 自信 | zìxìn | to have confidence in oneself; self-confidence |
| 诚信 | chéngxìn | honesty; trustworthiness; good faith |
| 微信 | wēixìn | Weixin or WeChat (instant messaging and social media app developed by Tencent 騰訊|腾讯[Teng2 |
Questions about 信
What does 信 mean?
信 (xìn) means "letter; mail" and is used as a noun and verb.
How do you write 信?
信 is made of 1 character: 信 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 信 an HSK word?
Yes. 信 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What measure word is used with 信 meaning letter?
Use 封 (fēng), as in 一封信 (yì fēng xìn), one letter. Using 个 (gè) sounds wrong to native speakers here.
Can I say 我信你 instead of 我相信你?
Yes. 我信你 (wǒ xìn nǐ) is common in casual speech and means "I believe you." 相信 sounds a bit more complete and neutral, so it is the safer choice in writing.