The character 意 — “idea”: how to write it and what it means
idea, meaning
The Chinese character 意 is read yì and means “idea, meaning”. Below: the stroke order step by step, what the character is made of and the words it appears in.
Stroke order: how to write 意
意 has 13 strokes. At each step the new stroke is highlighted — write them in the same order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical, a frame before what is inside it, and the bottom stroke of the frame last.
To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for 意, with strokes to trace and empty squares.
What 意 is made of
Below, 心 “heart”.
The parts of a character hint at its meaning or its reading — more in the article “Chinese character radicals”.
Words with 意
- 意思meaningHSK 2
- 有意思interestingHSK 2
- 没意思boringHSK 2
- 不好意思embarrassed; excuse meHSK 2
- 满意be satisfiedHSK 3
- 愿意be willing, wantHSK 3
- 同意agreeHSK 3
- 注意pay attentionHSK 3
- 故意on purposeHSK 4
- 得意pleased with oneselfHSK 4
- 意见opinion; criticismHSK 4
- 生意business, tradeHSK 4
- 主意idea, planHSK 4
- 意外unexpected; accidentHSK 5
- 随意as one pleases, casuallyHSK 5
- 意义meaning, significanceHSK 5
Frequently asked questions
How do you write the character 意?
意 has 13 strokes. They follow the usual rules: top to bottom, left to right, horizontal before vertical, outside before inside. The order of each stroke is shown on this page.
What does 意 mean?
意 means “idea, meaning”. It appears in 意思 (“meaning”), 有意思 (“interesting”), 没意思 (“boring”), 不好意思 (“embarrassed”).
How do you pronounce 意?
意 is read yì. The tone is part of the reading: with another melody it becomes another syllable.
How many strokes does 意 have?
13 strokes.
More characters on the page “Chinese characters with meanings” and in the list of HSK characters by level; whole words are in the dictionary.
Write 意 yourself
In the lessons you write characters stroke by stroke with a finger or a mouse, and the course checks the order. You can start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free