Meaning of 光
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- light; ray (CL:道[dao4])
- bright; shiny
- only; merely
- used up; finished
- to leave (a part of the body) uncovered
How to use 光
光 means light, as in 阳光 (yángguāng) sunshine and 灯光 (dēngguāng) lighting. After a verb it means something is used up, and as an adverb before a verb it means only. Example: 钱都花光了。(Qián dōu huā guāng le.) The money is all spent.
Picture the top of 光 (guāng) as rays of light shooting out, and the bottom 儿 as two legs carrying that light along. Someone walking with a torch spreads light wherever they go.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 光 with 先 (xiān, first), which has a similar bottom but a different top. Also, when 光 means used up it goes after the verb, so say 吃光了 (chī guāng le), not 光吃了, which means only ate.
光 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.
光 guāng · light · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 光.
| 阳光 | yángguāng | sunshine; (of personality) upbeat; energetic |
| 光明 | guāngmíng | light; radiance |
| 不光 | bùguāng | not the only one; not only |
| 灯光 | dēngguāng | (stage) lighting; light |
| 光临 | guānglín | (formal) to honor with one's presence; to attend |
| 光盘 | guāngpán | compact disc (CD); DVD; CD-ROM |
| 时光 | shíguāng | time (esp. as sth that passes) |
| 眼光 | yǎnguāng | gaze; insight |
| 光荣 | guāngróng | honor and glory; glorious |
| 光线 | guāngxiàn | light ray; light |
| 目光 | mùguāng | gaze; (fig.) attention; expression in one's eyes; look |
| 风光 | fēngguāng | scene; view |
Questions about 光
What does 光 mean?
光 (guāng) means "light; ray (CL:道[dao4]); bright; shiny" and is used as a adverb, noun and adjective.
How do you write 光?
光 is made of 1 character: 光 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 光 an HSK word?
Yes. 光 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 光 and 只 when meaning only?
Both can mean only before a verb, but 光 is more colloquial and often hints at doing one thing too much, as in 他光玩游戏 (tā guāng wán yóuxì), he does nothing but play games. 只 is more neutral and common in writing.
What does 光临 mean on a shop sign?
欢迎光临 (huānyíng guānglín) is a polite welcome, like Welcome, thank you for coming. 光临 is a formal way to honor someone's visit, so you hear it from shop staff, not between friends.