Meaning
hope; expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); look towards; towards
Chinese: 看、希望或名望。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “wang” becomes a different word in each tone. 望 is the 4th 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
- 希望xī wàngto hope; a hope; a wish
- 愿望yuàn wàngdesire; wish
- 失望shī wàngdisappointed; to lose hope; to despair
- 看望kàn wàngto pay a visit to; to see (sb)
- 渴望kě wàngto thirst for; to long for
Example Sentence
我希望明天是个好天气。Wǒ xī wàng míng tiān shì ge hǎo tiān qì.I hope tomorrow will be good weather.
我WǒI希望xī wàngto hope明天míng tiāntomorrow是shìis个ge(measure word)好hǎogood天气tiān qìweather。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A person standing tall (the 壬 element) looking up at the moon (月), with 亡 for the sound: to gaze into the distance — ‘to look afar / hope’.
A way to remember it
Standing on tiptoe to watch the moon (月) — to gaze, to hope.
Easy to confuse with
- 忘‘To forget’: shares the 亡 sound, but built on 心 (heart) — gaze vs forget.