Where 年 comes from
A man 干 carrying grain, representing the annual harvest
How to write 年 (nián, “year”)
年 (nián), an HSK 1 character, means “year”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. Dictionaries list it under the radical 干 (“dry”). On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 今年 (“this year”), 去年 (“last year”) and 明年 (“next year”). Japanese reads it nen, “year”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- nián
- Strokes
- 6
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 干 (“dry”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards → down and left
- Horizontal ㇐toprightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 6 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| nián second tone | year | — | 今年 去年 明年 过年 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 325 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 年
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 年 | nián | year HSK 1 |
| 今年 | jīnnián | this year HSK 1 |
| 去年 | qùnián | last year HSK 1 |
| 明年 | míngnián | next year HSK 1 |
| 过年 過年 | guònián | to celebrate the Chinese New Year HSK 2 |
| 前年 | qiánnián | the year before last HSK 3 |
| 后年 後年 | hòunián | the year after next HSK 3 |
| 新年 | xīnnián | New Year HSK 3 |
| 年级 年級 | niánjí | grade; year HSK 3 |
| 年轻 年輕 | niánqīng | young HSK 3 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.
Keep going
HSK 1, in list order: