呢 (ne): question particle
呢 (ne) is a Chinese character meaning “question particle.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 尼 (phonetic). It ranks #383 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 呢 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- question particle
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 呢 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 着呢 | zhe ne | comes at the end of the sentence to indicate a strong degree |
| 花呢 | huā ní | fancy suiting |
| 呢喃 | ní nán | (onom.) twittering of birds |
| 制服呢 | zhì fú ní | (textiles) uniform coating |
| 华达呢 | huá dá ní | (loanword) gabardine |
| 呢子 | ní zi | dense wool fabric (used for coats and jackets) |
| 怎么说呢 | zěn me shuō ne | Why is that? |
| 管他呢 | guǎn tā ne | don’t worry about (it, him etc) |
| 格子呢 | gé zi ní | checked woolen fabric |
| 台面呢 | tái miàn ní | (billiards) baize |
| 格子花呢 | gé zi huā ní | tartan |
| 呢呢 | ní ní | garrulous |
| 软呢 | ruǎn ní | soft, pliable wool fabric |
| 呢喃细语 | ní nán xì yǔ | whispering in a low voice (idiom) |
| 呢呢痴痴 | ní ní chī chī | docile |
呢 appears in 16 compound words: 31 as the first character, 63 as the last, and 6 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 呢 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
我已经准备好了，你呢？我们可以出发了吗？
Wǒ yǐjīng zhǔnbèi hǎo le, nǐ ne? Wǒmen kěyǐ chūfā le ma?
I'm ready. How about you? Can we leave now?
男人勃不起是什么原因引起的呢?慢性疲劳综合征耗竭身体能量吗
nán rén bó bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? màn xìng pí láo zèng gě zhēng hào jié shēn tǐ néng liàng ma
What causes men to have an erection? Does chronic fatigue syndrome drain your body's energy?
男人勃不起是什么原因引起的呢?肝硬化影响激素灭活和代谢吗
nán rén bó bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? gān yìng huà yǐng xiǎng jī sù miè huó hé dài xiè ma
What causes men to have an erection? Does cirrhosis affect hormone inactivation and metabolism?
男人勃不起是什么原因引起的呢?甲状腺功能亢进扰乱内分泌吗
nán rén bó bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? jiǎ zhuàng xiàn gōng néng 亢 jìn rǎo luàn nèi fēn mì ma
What causes men to have an erection? Does hyperthyroidism disrupt endocrine?
【战况R5】在港第3仗开斋!呢只巨富拍卖会自己买!
zhàn kuàng R 5 zài gǎng dì 3 zhàng kāi 斋 ! ne zhī jù fù pāi mài huì zì jǐ mǎi !
【Battle R5】The third battle in Hong Kong is breaking the fast! This huge wealth will be auctioned off and bought by yourself!
...日亞基金成大贏家!港美股陷低迷見紅 靠「呢個玩法」逆市保平安兼穩賺
. . . rì 亞 jī jīn chéng dà 贏 jiā ! gǎng měi gǔ xiàn dī mí 見 紅 kào ne 個 wán fǎ nì shì bǎo píng ān jiān 穩 賺
...NIA Fund is the big winner! Hong Kong and US stocks are in the red amid a downturn. With "this strategy," you can stay safe and profitable against the market.
有什么比失明更不幸的呢？
Yǒu shénme bǐ shīmíng gèng bù xìng de ne?
What greater misfortune is there than to go blind?
“我该做什么呢？”我自言自语道。
"Wǒ gāi zuò shénme ne?" wǒ zìyánzìyǔ dào.
"What shall I do?" I said to myself.
我怎么可能是机器人呢？机器人不会做梦。
Wǒ zěnme kěnéng shì jīqìrén ne? jīqìrén bù huì zuòmèng.
How could I be a robot? Robots don't dream.
昨天的这个时间你在做什么呢？
Zuótiān de zhège shíjiān nǐ zài zuò shénme ne?
What were you doing about this time yesterday?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 呢 (ne) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 呢 and 泥?
How many strokes does 呢 have?
What is the radical of 呢?
What are the components of 呢?
What are common words containing 呢?
Is 呢 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 呢 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.