How to say “medicine” in Chinese
medicine
“Medicine” in Chinese is 药, yào: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
药 is read yào. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On top, 艹 “grass”: medicines were made from herbs.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “药”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 药. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 你吃药了吗？nǐchīyàolemaDid you take your medicine?
- 吃了三天药他仍然咳嗽chīlesāntiānyào,tāréngránkésouHe's taken medicine for three days, but he's still coughing.
- 这个盒子是用来放药的。zhègehézishìyòngláifàngyàodeThis box is for medicine.
- 这个药你吃不得。zhègeyàonǐchībudeYou mustn't take this medicine.
- 这个药我能吃吗？zhègeyàowǒnéngchīmaCan I take this medicine?
- 我吃了三天药wǒchīlesāntiānyàoI took medicine for three days.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “What hurts?”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “medicine” in Chinese?
“Medicine” in Chinese is 药, pinyin yào.
What does 药 mean?
药 (yào) means “medicine”.
How do you write 药?
药 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 药?
药 is read yào. Tones: yào — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“medicine” in the lesson “What hurts?”
This word is from the topic “Leisure and health” of HSK 2. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free