两 (liǎng): two, both, some
两 (liǎng) is a Chinese character meaning “two.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 一 (structural), 冂 (structural) and 从 (structural). It ranks #133 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 两 two people 从 together in a cart. Its radical form 一 (one) appears in many related characters such as 一 (yī, one), 七 (qī, seven), 三 (sān, three).
Definitions
- two
- both
- some
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTwo people 从 together in a cart
Decomposition: ⿱一⿻冂从 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 两 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 两
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 两者pronoun | liǎng zhě | both of them |
| 两边noun | liǎng biān | either side |
| 两码事noun | liǎng mǎ shì | two things that are fundamentally different from each other |
| 两下子phrase | liǎng xià zi | a couple of times |
| 进退两难phrase | jìn tuì liǎng nán | no room to advance or to retreat (idiom) |
| 两侧 | liǎng cè | two sides |
| 三长两短 | sān cháng liǎng duǎn | unexpected misfortune |
| 两面派noun | liǎng miàn pài | two-faced person |
| 一刀两断 | yī dāo liǎng duàn | (idiom) to make a clean break with |
| 两手空空 | liǎng shǒu kōng kōng | empty-handed (idiom) |
| 两回事noun | liǎng huí shì | two quite different things |
| 两性noun | liǎng xìng | male and female |
| 两难adjective | liǎng nán | dilemma |
| 两端noun | liǎng duān | both ends (of a stick etc) |
| 模棱两可phrase | mó léng liǎng kě | equivocal |
两 appears in 100 compound words: 73 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 14 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 两 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (41)
six of one, half a dozen of the other; not much to choose between the two
mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong and/or Macau combined; three places across the Taiwan Strait
(lit.) two tigers fighting (idiom); (fig.) fierce contest between evenly matched adversaries
Showing 12 of 41 idioms containing 两.
Example Sentences
两地之间的距离虽然很远，但交通便利，往返很方便。
Liǎng dì zhī jiān de jùlí suīrán hěn yuǎn, dàn jiāotōng biànli, wǎngfǎn hěn fāngbiàn.
Although the distance between the two places is far, transportation is convenient, making round trips easy.
...赌AI却让普通员工买单?Meta据称连续两年削减..
. . . dǔ A I què ràng pǔ tōng yuán gōng mǎi dān ? M e t a jù chèn lián xù liǎng nián xiāo jiǎn . .
... Betting on AI but making ordinary employees pay? Meta is said to have cut for two consecutive years:
对话滞留俄罗斯“极光村”的中国游客:路两边的冰雪堆..
duì huà zhì liú é luó sī jí guāng cūn de zhōng guó yóu kè lù liǎng biān de bīng xuě duī . .
Dialogue with Chinese tourists stranded in Russia's "Aurora Village": Ice and snow piles on both sides of the road...
冬奥会|冬季两项男子4X7.5公里接力:法国队逆转..
dōng ào huì dōng jì liǎng xiàng nán zǐ . gōng lǐ jiē lì fǎ guó duì nì zhuǎn . .
Winter Olympics | Biathlon Men's 4x7.5km Relay: France Stages Comeback...
新春走基层|拉萨:年货购销两旺 高原喜迎新年
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng lā sà nián huò gòu xiāo liǎng wàng gāo yuán xǐ yíng xīn nián
Spring Festival at the Grassroots Level | Lhasa: New Year Shopping Booms as Plateau Welcomes the New Year
菲律宾海警在我南沙群岛附近海域扔下两个黑色桶状物,..
菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài wǒ nán shā qún dǎo fù jìn hǎi yù rēng xià liǎng gě hēi sè tǒng zhuàng wù , . .
The Philippine Coast Guard dropped two black barrel-shaped objects in waters near our Spratly Islands...
他在这里已经住了两年了吗？
Tā zài zhèlǐ yǐjīng zhù le liǎng nián le ma?
Has he lived here for two years?
为什么这两天一天比一天热？
Wèishénme zhè liǎng tiān yī tiān bǐ yī tiān rè?
Why has it been getting hotter and hotter these last two days?
你是不是有两台电脑？
Nǐ shìbùshì yǒu liǎng tái diànnǎo?
Do you have two computers?
你看这两张照片哪张好？
Nǐ kàn zhè liǎng zhāng zhàopiàn nǎ zhāng hǎo?
Look at these two photographs - which one is better?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 两 (liǎng) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 两 have?
What is the radical of 两?
What are the components of 两?
What are common words containing 两?
What characters sound the same as 两 (liǎng)?
Is 两 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 两 with real-time feedback
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