流 meaning in English

liú

to flow; to disseminate

HSK 2verb10 strokes

Meaning of 流

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

liú

to flow
to disseminate
to circulate or spread
to move or drift
to degenerate
to banish or send into exile
stream of water or sth resembling one
class, rate or grade

How to use 流

As a verb, 流 describes liquids moving, like tears, blood, or rivers, and it also appears in many common words about spreading or moving, such as 流行 (liúxíng, popular) and 交流 (jiāoliú, to exchange). Example: 他流了很多汗。(Tā liú le hěn duō hàn.) He sweated a lot.

流 (liú) has the water radical 氵 on the left, three drops that tell you this character is about liquid. Picture the water on the left side moving along the shape on the right, and you have something that flows.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 流 (liú) with 留 (liú, to stay or keep), since they share the same sound and tone. Remember that 流 has the water radical because it moves, while 留 means to remain in place, as in 留学 (liúxué, to study abroad).

流 in example sentences

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

她tā能néng说shuō流liú利lì的de英yīng语yǔ和hé法fǎ语yǔ。

She is fluent in English and French.

这zhè个ge说shuō法fǎ一yī下xià子zi就jiù流liú行xíng开kāi来lái了le。

This saying suddenly became popular.

人rén们men需xū要yào更gèng多duō的de交jiāo流liú。

People should get more involved.

你nǐ会huì说shuō流liú利lì的de中zhōng文wén吗ma?

Do you speak Chinese well?

年nián轻qīng人rén都dōu喜xǐ欢huān流liú行xíng乐lè。

Young people all like pop music.

Stroke order for each character

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

流 liú · to flow · 10 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 流.

流行	liúxíng	(of a contagious disease etc) to spread; to propagate; (of a style of clothing, song etc)
流利	liúlì	fluent
交流	jiāoliú	to exchange; exchange
流传	liúchuán	to spread; to circulate; to hand down
潮流	cháoliú	tide; current
一流	yīliú	top quality; front ranking
流动	liúdòng	to flow; to circulate; to move about; mobile; (of assets) liquid
流通	liútōng	to circulate; to distribute; circulation; distribution
流感	liúgǎn	flu; influenza
主流	zhǔliú	main stream (of a river); fig. the essential point
流血	liúxuè	to bleed; to shed blood
流氓	liúmáng	rogue; hoodlum

Questions about 流

What does 流 mean?

流 (liú) means "to flow; to disseminate" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 流?

流 is made of 1 character: 流 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.

Is 流 an HSK word?

Yes. 流 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How do I say someone speaks Chinese fluently?

Use 流利 (liúlì). For example, 她的中文说得很流利。(Tā de Zhōngwén shuō de hěn liúlì.) means Her Chinese is very fluent.

Why does 一流 mean top quality if 流 means to flow?

流 also has the sense of class, rate or grade. So 一流 (yīliú) literally means first class, used for things like 一流的大学 (a top university).