Meaning
clear; bright; to understand; next; the Ming dynasty
Chinese: 明亮、明白。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “ming” becomes a different word in each tone. 明 is the 2nd 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
- 明天míng tiāntomorrow
- 明白míng baiclear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible
- 明年míng niánnext year
- 说明shuō míngto explain; to illustrate; to indicate; to show
- 明星míng xīngstar; celebrity
Example Sentence
明天是个晴天。Míng tiān shì ge qíng tiān.Tomorrow will be a sunny day.
明天Míng tiāntomorrow是shìis个ge(measure word)晴天qíng tiānclear sky。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
日 (sun) beside 月 (moon): the two brightest things put together to mean ‘bright / clear’.
A way to remember it
Sun + moon, the two great lights — bright.
Easy to confuse with
- 朋‘Friend’: two 月 side by side, not 日 + 月.