沿 meaning in English

yán

along; to follow (a line, tradition etc)

HSK 6preposition8 strokes

Meaning of 沿

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

yán

along
to follow (a line, tradition etc)
to carry on
to trim (a border with braid, tape etc)
border
edge

How to use 沿

沿 is mostly used as a preposition meaning "along," often in the form 沿着 (yánzhe) before a road, river, or line. It also appears in fixed words like 沿海 (yánhǎi, coastal) and 沿途 (yántú, along the way). Example: 沿着这条路一直走。(Yánzhe zhè tiáo lù yìzhí zǒu.) Go straight along this road.

沿 has the water radical 氵 on the left, so picture water flowing along the edge of a riverbank. You walk along that edge, following where the water goes.

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 沿 (yán) with 铅 (qiān, lead or pencil lead), which has the same right side but the metal radical 钅. Remember that water 氵 runs along edges, so 沿 means "along."

沿 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

这zhè条tiáo小xiǎo路lù沿yán著zhù河hé走zǒu。

This path follows the river.

我wǒ们men沿yán着zhe湖hú岸àn散sàn步bù。

We walk along the lakeside.

我wǒ沿yán着zhe河hé走zǒu了le段duàn路lù。

I walked along the river.

请qǐng沿yán着zhe这zhè条tiáo路lù走zǒu，在zài银yín行háng那nà里lǐ向xiàng右yòu转zhuǎn。

Go along this street and turn right at the bank.

沿yán着zhe这zhè条tiáo街jiē直zhí走zǒu。

Go straight on down this street.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

沿 yán · along · 8 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 沿.

沿着	yánzhe	to go along; to follow
沿海	yánhǎi	coastal
沿岸	yán'àn	coastal area; littoral or riparian
沿途	yántú	along the sides of the road; by the wayside
前沿	qiányán	(military) forward position; frontier; cutting-edge; forefront
沿线	yánxiàn	along the line (e.g. railway); the region near the line
沿路	yánlù	along the way; on the way; area beside a road

Questions about 沿

What does 沿 mean?

沿 (yán) means "along; to follow (a line, tradition etc)" and is used as a preposition.

How do you write 沿?

沿 is made of 1 character: 沿 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.

Is 沿 an HSK word?

Yes. 沿 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 沿 and 沿着?

They mean the same thing, but 沿着 is more common in speech and works with longer phrases. Plain 沿 sounds more formal or written, as in 沿河 (yán hé, along the river) on signs or in news.

Can 沿 be used as a noun meaning edge?

Yes, but usually only inside compound words, such as 边沿 (biānyán, edge) or 前沿 (qiányán, forefront). It is rarely used alone as a noun in everyday speech.