Meaning
female; woman
Chinese: 女性、女儿。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “nü” becomes a different word in each tone. 女 is the 3rd 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
- 女人nǚ rénwoman
- 女儿nǚ érdaughter
- 女生nǚ shēngschoolgirl; female student; girl
- 女士nǚ shìlady; madam; Miss; Ms
- 女朋友nǚ péng yougirlfriend
Example Sentence
那个女孩很喜欢唱歌。Nà ge nǚ hái hěn xǐ huan chàng gē.That girl really likes to sing.
那个Nà gethat one女孩nǚ háigirl很hěnvery喜欢xǐ huanto like唱歌chàng gēto sing a song。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of a person kneeling with hands folded — in early script a common posture. It means ‘woman’ and is the radical in many characters about women or family, as in 妈, 好, 她.
A way to remember it
A figure seated with arms crossed in front.
Easy to confuse with
- 母‘Mother’: based on 女 but with two dots added, marking the breasts that nurse a child.