Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

to fly

Chinese: 飞行、快速移动。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “fei” becomes a different word in each tone. 飞 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 飞机fēi jīairplane
  • 起飞qǐ fēi(of an aircraft or rocket) to take off; to lift off; (fig.) (of an enterprise etc) to start to develop rapidly
  • 飞行fēi xíng(of planes etc) to fly; flying; flight; aviation
  • 飞行员fēi xíng yuánpilot; aviator
  • 飞船fēi chuánspaceship; spacecraft; dirigible; airship

Example Sentence

一群大雁向南飞去。Yì qún dà yàn xiàng nán fēi qù.A flock of wild geese flew south.

oneqúngroup大雁dà yànwild goosexiàngtowardnánsouthfēito flyto go

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

A pictograph of a bird soaring, with a wing and trailing feathers. Simplified from 飛, which showed both wings. It means ‘to fly’.

A way to remember it

A wing sweeping up with feathers streaming — to fly.

Easy to confuse with

  • ‘To practise’: a single wing-like hook too, but with a small stroke inside and no feathers.