量 (liàng): capacity, quantity, amount

量 (liàng) is a Chinese character meaning “capacity.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 旦 (phonetic) and 里 (semantic). It ranks #241 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 量 unit. Its radical form 里 (village) appears in many related characters such as 里 (lǐ, lining), 重 (chóng, to repeat), 野 (yě, field).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. capacity
  2. quantity
  3. amount

Etymology & Origin

量

pictophoneticunit

Decomposition: ⿱旦里 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Practice writing 量 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 量

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
力量nounlì liangpower5
尽量adverbjǐn liàngas much as possible5
能量nounnéng liàngenergy6
大量adjectivedà liànggreat amount4
商量verbshāng liangto consult4
数量nounshù liàngamount4
质量nounzhì liàng(physics) mass4
重量nounzhòng liàngweight5
含量nounhán liàngcontent5
测量verbcè liángsurvey6
热量nounrè liàngheat5
衡量verbhéng liángto weigh6
销量nounxiāo liàngsales volume5
音量nounyīn liàngloudness5
少量adjectiveshǎo liànga smidgen4
容量nounróng liàngcapacity6
流量nounliú liàngflow rate6
产量nounchǎn liàngoutput5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
过量adjectiveguò liàngexcessive
剂量nounjì liàngdosage
胆量noundǎn liàngcourage
重量级nounzhòng liàng jí(sports) heavyweight class
较量verbjiào liàngto pit oneself against sb
量子nounliàng zǐ(physics) quantum
限量xiàn liàngto limit the amount (of)
分量nounfēn liàng(vector) component
变量nounbiàn liàngvariable (math.)
微量nounwēi liànga smidgen
打量verbdǎ liangto size sb up
前途无量phraseqián tú wú liàngto have boundless prospects
量级nounliàng jíorder of magnitude
工作量gōng zuò liàngworkload
酒量nounjiǔ liàngcapacity for liquor
109
Total compounds
23
As first character
74
As last character
3
As middle character

量 appears in 109 compound words: 23 as the first character, 74 as the last, and 3 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 量 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

数shǔ
0.600151,972 co-occurrences
力lì
0.538146,260 co-occurrences
测cè
0.50428,582 co-occurrences
雨yǔ
0.48624,702 co-occurrences
质zhì
0.48545,255 co-occurrences
大dà
0.485245,240 co-occurrences
口kǒu
0.47594,026 co-occurrences
降jiàng
0.46033,130 co-occurrences
吞tūn
0.4586,944 co-occurrences
销xiāo
0.45518,441 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (14)

本征向量běnzhēng xiàngliàngHSK 5+

Alternative name for 特徵向量/特征向量 (tèzhēng xiàngliàng, “eigenvector”).

noun
车载斗量chēzàidǒuliángHSK 5+

ubiquitous and numerous

phrase
功德无量gōngdéwúliàngHSK 6+

great; of boundless beneficence; to do immeasurable good

phrase
斤斤较量jīnjīn jiàoliàngHSK 4+

to dispute over minor matters

phrase
宽宏大量kuānhóng dàliàngHSK 6+

magnanimous; large-minded; generous

adjective
宽洪大量kuān hóng dà liàngHSK 6+

magnanimous; generous; broad-minded

phrase
量才录用liàng cái lù yòngHSK 5+

to assess sb's capabilities and employ him accordingly (idiom); to employ sb competent for the task

phrase
量力而行liàng lì ér xíngHSK 4+

to assess one's capabilities and act accordingly (idiom); to act within one's competence; One does what one can.

phrase
量体裁衣liàngtǐcáiyīHSK 5+

to act according to actual circumstances

phrase
量子力学liàng zǐ lì xuéHSK 4+

quantum mechanics

phrase
前途无量qiántúwúliàngHSK 5+

to have a great future; to have boundless prospects

phrase
微量元素wēi liàng yuán sùHSK 5+

trace element (chemistry)

phrase

Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 量.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

请量一下这件衣服的长度,看是否合适。

Qǐng liáng yīxià zhè jiàn yīfu de chángdù, kàn shìfǒu héshì.

Please measure the length of this garment to see if it fits.

百度新闻Feb 2026

...抵达!外滩、南京路、豫园......客流量..

. . . dǐ dá ! wài tān nán jīng lù yù yuán . . . . . . kè liú liáng . .

... Arrival! The Bund, Nanjing Road, Yuyuan Garden ...... Passenger flow ...

百度新闻Feb 2026

不只是相信“相信的力量”——速滑团体追逐夺牌的背后

bù zhī shì xiāng xìn xiāng xìn de lì liáng sù huá tuán tī zhuī zhú duó pái de bēi hòu

More than just believing in the 'power of believing' - behind speed skating's medal-winning team pursuit

百度新闻Feb 2026

大年初一全社会跨区域人员流动量超2.1亿人次 全国..

dà nián chū yī quán shè huì kuà ōu yù rén yuán liú dòng liáng chāo . yì rén cì quán guó . .

The first day of the Lunar New Year saw more than 210 million inter-regional movements of people across the country...

百度新闻Feb 2026

年初二全国高速公路流量快速回升,午后车流持续保持高..

nián chū èr quán guó gāo sù gōng lù liú liáng kuài sù huí shēng , wǔ hòu chē liú chí xù bǎo chí gāo . .

The second day of the year the national highway traffic quickly rebounded, the afternoon traffic continued to remain high....

百度新闻Feb 2026

...站总台春晚直播弹幕数达1.33亿,发送数量排名前..

. . . zhàn zǒng tái chūn wǎn zhí bō dàn mù shǔ dá . yì , fā sòng shǔ liáng pái míng qián . .

... The number of live pop-ups on the station's Spring Festival Gala reached 133 million, and the number of sends ranked in the top...

Tatoeba

收音机太响了。你不能把音量调低一点吗?

Shōuyīnjī tài xiǎng le. Nǐ bù néng bǎ yīnliàng tiáo dī yīdiǎn ma?

The radio is too loud. Can't you turn it down a little?

Tatoeba

请您能不能尽量慢点说?

Qǐng nín néng bù néng jǐnliàng màn diǎn shuō?

Please speak as slowly as possible.

Tatoeba

您能估计一下数量吗?

Nín néng gūjì yīxià shùliàng ma?

Could you give me a ball-park figure?

Tatoeba

我能把电视音量关小一点吗?

Wǒ néng bǎ diànshì yīnliàng guān xiǎo yīdiǎn ma?

May I turn down the TV?

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 里 (unit) component

里 Radical Family — Characters sharing the village radical

Related Characters

Homophones — Characters pronounced liàng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 量 (liàng) mean in Chinese?
量 (liàng) primarily means "capacity." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #241 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 量 and 但?
量 (liàng) and 但 (dàn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 里 vs 亻 (same 旦 component).
How many strokes does 量 have?
量 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 量?
The radical associated with 量 is 里 (village). This radical appears in many characters related to village.
What are the components of 量?
量 is composed of: 旦 (phonetic), 里 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱旦里 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 量?
Common words with 量 include: 力量 (lì liang, "power"); 尽量 (jǐn liàng, "as much as possible"); 能量 (néng liàng, "energy"); 大量 (dà liàng, "great amount"); 商量 (shāng liang, "to consult"). There are over 109 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 量 (liàng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation liàng: 两 (two), 亮 (bright), 良 (good), 辆 (measure word for vehicles), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 量 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 量 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 量 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.