Where 奶 comes from
woman
- Meaning part
- 女 (“female”)
- Sound part
- 乃 (“to be”)
How to write 奶 (nǎi, “milk”)
奶 (nǎi), an HSK 1 character, means “milk”, “breast” and “to breastfeed”. It pairs a meaning part, 女 (“female”), with a sound part, 乃 (“to be”). Among the HSK words it appears in 牛奶 (“cow's milk”), 奶茶 (“milk tea”) and 奶奶 (“grandma”). Japanese reads it dai, “milk”.
- Pinyin
- nǎi
- Strokes
- 5
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 女 (“female”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
As a left-right character it splits into 女 (“female”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 乃 (“to be”), strokes 4–5, written the left part first.
- top leftdownwards → down and right
- topdownwards → down and left
- leftrightwards
- toprightwards → downwards
- topdown and left
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| nǎi third tone | milk; breast; to breastfeed | — | 牛奶 奶茶 奶奶 酸奶 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 94 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 奶
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 牛奶 | niúnǎi | cow's milk HSK 1 |
| 奶茶 | nǎichá | milk tea HSK 2 |
| 奶奶 | nǎinai | (informal) grandma (paternal grandmother); boobies HSK 2 |
| 酸奶 | suānnǎi | yogurt HSK 4 |
| 奶粉 | nǎifěn | powdered milk HSK 6 |
| 奶酪 | nǎilào | cheese HSK 7-9 |
| 下奶 | xiànǎi | to produce milk; to lactate |
| 吃奶 | chīnǎi | to suck the breast (for milk) |
| 喂奶 餵奶 | wèinǎi | to breast-feed |
| 奶名 | nǎimíng | pet name for a child; infant name |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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HSK 1, in list order: