爱 (ài): to love
爱 (ài) is a Chinese character meaning “to love.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 爫 (structural), 冖 (structural) and 友 (structural). It ranks #394 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 爱 to bring a friend 友 into one's house 冖. Its radical form 心 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忘 (wàng, to forget), 想 (xiǎng, to think, to want), 心 (xīn, heart, mind).
Definitions
- to love
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo bring a friend 友 into one's house 冖
Decomposition: ⿱⿱爫冖友 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 爱 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 爱
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 亲爱adjective | qīn ài | dear | 5 |
| 可爱adjective | kě ài | adorable | 3 |
| 爱情noun | ài qíng | romance | 4 |
| 恋爱verb/noun | liàn ài | (romantic) love | 5 |
| 热爱verb | rè ài | to love ardently | 5 |
| 爱人noun | ài ren | spouse (PRC) | 3 |
| 喜爱verb | xǐ ài | to like | 3 |
| 爱好verb/noun | ài hào | to like | 2 |
| 心爱adjective | xīn ài | beloved | 6 |
| 爱心noun | ài xīn | compassion | 4 |
| 关爱verb | guān ài | to show concern and care for | 6 |
| 爱护verb | ài hù | to cherish | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 爱上verb | ài shàng | to fall in love with |
| 做爱 | zuò ài | to make love |
| 爱尔兰proper-noun | ài ěr lán | Ireland |
| 性爱noun | xìng ài | sex |
| 相爱verb | xiāng ài | to love each other |
| 爱德华proper-noun | ài dé huá | Edward |
| 爱河noun | ài hé | the river of love |
| 爱好者noun | ài hào zhě | lover (of art, sports etc) |
| 爱因斯坦proper-noun | ài yīn sī tǎn | Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born theoretical physicist |
| 挚爱verb | zhì ài | true love |
| 爱国verb | ài guó | to love one's country |
| 爱国者noun | ài guó zhě | patriot |
| 爱意noun | ài yì | love |
| 爱戴verb | ài dài | to love and respect |
| 爱丽丝proper-noun | ài lì sī | (name) Alice |
爱 appears in 110 compound words: 51 as the first character, 48 as the last, and 1 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 爱 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (30)
to love money as if it were one's life; to be extremely stingy or greedy for money
Showing 12 of 30 idioms containing 爱.
Example Sentences
父母对孩子的爱是无条件的，不求任何回报。
Fùmǔ duì háizi de ài shì wú tiáojiàn de, bù qiú rènhé huíbào.
Parents' love for their children is unconditional and asks for nothing in return.
爱读书的工地大叔走红后第一个春节:继续种地...
ài dòu shū de gōng dì dà shū zǒu hóng hòu dì yī gè chūn jié : jì xù zhǒng dì . . .
The first Spring Festival after the construction site uncle who loves to read became popular: continue farming...
米兰冬奥|有爱人也有惺惺相惜的对手,王心迪与瑞士选..
mǐ lán dōng ào yǒu ài rén yě yǒu 惺 惺 xiāng xī de duì shǒu , wáng xīn dí yǔ ruì shì xuǎn . .
Milan Winter Olympics|There are lovers and sympathetic opponents, Wang Xindi and Switzerland choos:
米兰冬奥|“热爱可敌万难”,徐梦桃成功卫冕,五届奥..
mǐ lán dōng ào rè ài kě dí mò nán , xú mèng táo chéng gōng wèi 冕 , wǔ jiè ào . .
Milan Winter Olympics | "Love can conquer all difficulties", Xu Mengtao successfully defended her title, five-time o...
...翊鸣夺金后身披国旗大喊,怒吼里是坚守与热爱!这一..
. . . 翊 míng duó jīn hòu shēn pī guó qí dà hǎn , nù hǒu lǐ shì jiān shǒu yú rè ài ! zhè yī . .
... Yiming yells after winning the gold wearing the national flag, roar is the perseverance and love! This...
洛杉矶奥组委主席涉爱泼斯坦案,市长呼吁其辞职
洛 杉 矶 ào zǔ wěi zhǔ xí shè ài pō sī tǎn àn , shì cháng hū xū qí cí zhí
Los Angeles Olympic Bid Committee Chairman Linked to Epstein Case; Mayor Calls for His Resignation
你不喜欢爱情故事，是吗？
Nǐ bù xǐhuan àiqíng gùshi, shì ma?
You don't like love stories, do you?
你曾经爱过一个男人吗？
Nǐ céngjīng ài guo yī gè nánrén ma?
Have you ever loved a man?
听起来像是我恋爱了吗？
Tīngqilai xiàng shì wǒ liàn'ài le ma?
Do I sound in love?
我的爱好为我的生活带来什么？
Wǒ de àihào wèi wǒ de shēnghuó dàilái shénme?
What do my hobbies bring to my life?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 爱 (ài) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 爱 and 恨?
How many strokes does 爱 have?
What is the radical of 爱?
What are the components of 爱?
What are common words containing 爱?
What characters sound the same as 爱 (ài)?
Is 爱 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 爱 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.