How to write 颜 (yán, “color”)
颜 (yán), an HSK 2 character, means “color”, “face” and “countenance”. The traditional form is 顏, 18 strokes instead of 15. Among the HSK words it appears in 颜色 (“color”), 五颜六色 (“multicolored”) and 容颜 (“mien”). Japanese keeps the traditional 顏, read gan (“face”).
- Pinyin
- yán
- Strokes
- 15
- HSK
- 2
- Radical
- 页 (“page”)
- Traditional
- 顏
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
As a left-right character it splits into 彦 (“accomplished”), strokes 1–9; 页 (“page”, the radical), strokes 10–15, written the left part first.
- top leftdown and right
- top leftrightwards
- Dottop lefta dot
- topdownwards → down and left
- leftrightwards
- leftdownwards → down and left
- centerdown and left
- centerdown and left
- bottomdown and left
- toprightwards
- top rightdown and left
- topdownwards
- toprightwards → downwards
- centerdownwards
- bottom rightdown and right
Traditional form
- Simplified
- 颜 · 15 strokes
- Traditional
- 顏 · 18 strokes · see its strokes
Trace it
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Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| yán second tone | color; face; countenance | 顏 | 颜色 五颜六色 容颜 开颜 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 2
- 2021 standard
- level 2
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 41 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 颜
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 颜色 顏色 | yánsè | color; countenance HSK 2 |
| 五颜六色 五顏六色 | wǔyán-liùsè | multicolored; every color under the sun HSK 5 |
| 容颜 容顏 | róngyán | mien; complexion HSK 7-9 |
| 开颜 開顏 | kāiyán | to smile; to beam |
| 面颜 面顏 | miànyán | face |
| 颜面 顏面 | yánmiàn | face; prestige |
| 颜文字 顏文字 | yánwénzì | Japanese-style emoticon, e.g. (⇀‸↼‶) |
| 笑颜 笑顏 | xiàoyán | smiling face |
| 红颜 紅顏 | hóngyán | a beautiful woman; young beauties |
| 颜体 顏體 | yántǐ | Yan Style |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
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HSK 2, in list order: