勉 (miǎn): to exhort, to make an effort
勉 (miǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “to exhort.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 免 (phonetic) and 力 (semantic). It ranks #2044 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 勉 strength. Its radical form 力 (power) appears in many related characters such as 动 (dòng, (of sth) to move), 力 (lì, power), 办 (bàn, to take care of (a matter)).
Definitions
- to exhort
- to make an effort
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 勉 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 勉
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 勉为其难 | miǎn wéi qí nán | to tackle a difficult job (idiom) |
| 勤勉 | qín miǎn | diligence |
| 勉勉强强 | miǎn miǎn qiǎng qiǎng | to achieve with difficulty |
| 勉励 | miǎn lì | to encourage |
| 勉力 | miǎn lì | to strive |
| 勉力而为 | miǎn lì ér wéi | to try one's best to do sth (idiom) |
| 有则改之，无则加勉 | yǒu zé gǎi zhī , wú zé jiā miǎn | correct any mistakes you made, but maintain your good record if you did not make them (idiom) |
| 自勉 | zì miǎn | to encourage oneself |
| 规勉 | guī miǎn | to advise and encourage |
| 互勉 | hù miǎn | to encourage each other |
| 勉县 | miǎn xiàn | Mian County in Hanzhong 漢中|汉中[Han4 zhong1], Shaanxi |
| 劝勉 | quàn miǎn | to advise |
勉 appears in 13 compound words: 54 as the first character, 46 as the last, and 0 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 勉 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
这个勉字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě miǎn zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "勉" carries different meanings in classical Chinese.
台理工师资现断层隐忧 总统期勉争取诺贝尔奖殊荣
tái lǐ gōng shī zī xiàn duàn céng yǐn yōu zǒng tǒng qī miǎn zhēng qǔ nuò bèi ěr jiǎng shū róng
Concerns Over a Potential Shortage of Faculty at Taiwan University of Science and Technology; President Urges Efforts to Win a Nobel Prize
张善政参访钜祥企业观音厂 勉共同打造桃园全球AI供应链
zhāng shàn zhèng cān fǎng 钜 xiáng qǐ yè guàn yīn hǎn miǎn gòng tóng dǎ zào táo yuán quán qiú A I gōng yīng liàn
Zhang Shanzheng visited the Guanyin Factory of Juxiang Enterprise to jointly build Taoyuan's global AI supply chain
汤姆勉强签了文件。
Tāngmǔ miǎnqiǎng qiān le wénjiàn.
Tom reluctantly signed the papers.
她勉强能自己煮晚餐吃。
Tā miǎnqiǎng néng zìjǐ zhǔ wǎncān chī.
She was able to cook herself dinner, after a fashion.
火车马上就要开，我们勉强可以赶到。
Huǒchē mǎshàng jiùyào kāi, wǒmen miǎnqiǎng kěyǐ gǎndào.
The train is about to leave, we can barely catch it.
他勉强地通过了考试。
Tā miǎnqiángde tōngguò le kǎoshì.
He barely passed the examination.
他勉强同意了我的建议。
Tā miǎnqiǎng tóngyì le wǒ de jiànyì.
He reluctantly agreed to my proposal.
这些日子我们勉强糊口。
Zhèxiē rìzi wǒmen miǎnqiǎng húkǒu.
We lived from hand to mouth in those days.
他的驾驶技术很差，但也勉强通过了驾驶考试。
Tā de jiàshǐ jìshù hěn chà, dàn yě miǎnqiǎng tōngguò le jiàshǐ kǎoshì.
He managed to pass his driving test even though he was a poor driver.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 勉 (miǎn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 勉 and 挽?
How many strokes does 勉 have?
What is the radical of 勉?
What are the components of 勉?
What are common words containing 勉?
What characters sound the same as 勉 (miǎn)?
Is 勉 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 勉 with real-time feedback
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