The character 怜 — “pity”: how to write it and what it means

怜
lián

pity

8 strokes · HSK 6

The Chinese character 怜 is read lián and means “pity”. Below: the stroke order step by step, what the character is made of and the words it appears in.

Stroke order: how to write 怜

怜 has 8 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 怜, with strokes to trace and empty squares.

What 怜 is made of

On the left, 忄 “heart”; on the right, 令.

The parts of a character hint at its meaning or its reading — more in the article “Chinese character radicals”.

Words with 怜

Frequently asked questions

How do you write the character 怜?

怜 has 8 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 怜 mean?

怜 means “pity”. It appears in 可怜 (“pitiful”).

How do you pronounce 怜?

怜 is read lián. The tone is part of the reading: with another melody it becomes another syllable.

How many strokes does 怜 have?

8 strokes.

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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 怜 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.

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