而 (ér): and, as well as, and so
而 (ér) is a Chinese character meaning “and.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 而 (and). It ranks #36 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- and
- as well as
- and so
Stroke Order
Practice writing 而 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 而
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 而且conjunction | ér qiě | (not only ...) but also | 3 |
| 然而conjunction | rán ér | however | 4 |
| 反而adverb | fǎn ér | on the contrary | 5 |
| 从而conjunction | cóng ér | thus | 5 |
| 因而conjunction | yīn ér | therefore | 5 |
| 进而conjunction | jìn ér | and then (what follows next) | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 而已 | ér yǐ | that's all |
| 而是 | ér shì | rather |
| 而言 | ér yán | (typically preceded by 就…[jiu4 xx5] or 對…|对…[dui4 xx5] etc) as far as ... is concerned |
| 尽力而为 | jìn lì ér wéi | to try one's utmost |
| 从天而降 | cóng tiān ér jiàng | (idiom) to fall from the sky |
| 半途而废 | bàn tú ér fèi | to give up halfway (idiom) |
| 华而不实 | huá ér bù shí | flower but no fruit (idiom) |
| 而今 | ér jīn | now |
| 简而言之 | jiǎn ér yán zhī | in a nutshell |
| 背道而驰 | bèi dào ér chí | to run in the opposite direction (idiom) |
| 擦肩而过 | cā jiān ér guò | to brush past |
| 而后 | ér hòu | after that |
| 不辞而别 | bù cí ér bié | to leave without saying good-bye |
| 时而 | shí ér | occasionally |
| 不得而知 | bù dé ér zhī | unknown |
而 appears in 100 compound words: 7 as the first character, 16 as the last, and 77 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 而 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (127)
to have something ready just in case; to keep something for possible future use
to run in opposite directions; to run counter to; to be inconsistent with
to be unable to know or find out; to remain unknown; to be unable to ascertain
to run in opposite directions; to run counter to; to be inconsistent with
Showing 12 of 127 idioms containing 而.
Example Sentences
我在字典里查到了而字的详细解释。
wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le ér zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .
I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "而" in the dictionary.
900克黄金遗漏列车 女乘客失而复得
9 0 0 kè huáng jīn yí lòu liè chē nǚ chéng kè shī ér fù dé
900 grams of gold missing train Female passenger lost and recovered
...米兰冬奥会)惊喜与突破交织 中国冰雪向新而行
. . . mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) jīng xǐ yǔ tū pò jiāo zhī zhōng guó bīng xuě xiàng xīn ér háng
... Milan Winter Olympics) Surprises and breakthroughs are intertwined, and China's ice and snow are moving towards the new
...淑佩称景点一成不变旅客难免生厌 盼做到乐而忘返、念念不忘
. . . 淑 pèi chèn jǐng diǎn yī chéng bù biàn lǚ kè nán miǎn shēng yàn pàn zuò dào lè ér wàng fǎn , niàn niàn bù wàng
... Shupei said that the attractions are unchanged, and tourists will inevitably get tired of it
排山倒海 扑面而来!六百只宋代瓷碗在这叠成墙
pái shān dǎo hǎi pū miàn ér lái ! liù bǎi zhī sòng dài cí wǎn zài zhè dié chéng qiáng
Overwhelming and coming! Six hundred Song Dynasty porcelain bowls are stacked on this wall
10万元财物失而复得,长沙火车站春运暖心守护旅客行..
1 0 wàn yuán cái wù shī ér fù dé , cháng shā huǒ chē zhàn chūn yùn nuǎn xīn shǒu hù lǚ kè háng . .
100,000 yuan of property was lost and recovered, and Changsha Railway Station warmly guarded the passengers during the Spring Festival:
难道他可以买一把刀，而我就不行了？
Nándào tā kěyǐ mǎi yī bǎ dāo, ér wǒ jiù bùxíngle?
If it's okay for him to buy a knife, then why on earth can't I?
简而言之，你恨我，是吧？
Jiǎn'éryánzhī, nǐ hèn wǒ, shì ba?
In a word, you hate me, don't you?
您能为爱情而死吗？
Nín néng wèi àiqíng ér sǐ ma?
Can you die for love?
你想通过做那件事而得到原谅是吗？
Nǐ xiǎngtōng guo zuò nà jiàn shì ér dédào yuánliàng shì ma?
You want to be excused from doing that, don't you?
Character Family
而 Radical Family — Characters sharing the and radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 而 (ér) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 而?
What are common words containing 而?
What characters sound the same as 而 (ér)?
Is 而 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 而 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.