虽 (suī): although, even though

虽 (suī) is a Chinese character meaning “although.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (structural) and 虫 (structural). It ranks #504 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. although
  2. even though

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 虽

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
虽然conjunctionsuī ránalthough2

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
虽说conjunctionsuī shuōthough
话虽如此phrasehuà suī rú cǐbe that as it may
虽是suī shìalthough
虽则conjunctionsuī zénevertheless
虽迟但到phrasesuī chí dàn dào(slang) slow to arrive but eventually shows up
虽死犹生suī sǐ yóu shēnglit. although dead, as if still alive (idiom)
虽死犹荣suī sǐ yóu rónglit. although dead, also honored
虽败犹荣phrasesuī bài yóu rónghonorable even in defeat (idiom)
麻雀虽小,五脏俱全má què suī xiǎo , wǔ zàng jù quánthe sparrow may be small but all its vital organs are there (idiom)
牡丹虽好,终须绿叶扶持mǔ dan suī hǎo , zhōng xū lǜ yè fú chíAlthough the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may...
牡丹虽好,全凭绿叶扶持mǔ dan suī hǎo , quán píng lǜ yè fú chíAlthough the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may...
牡丹虽好,全仗绿叶扶持mǔ dan suī hǎo , quán zhàng lǜ yè fú chíAlthough the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may...
秤砣虽小压千斤chèng tuó suī xiǎo yā qiān jīnalthough small, a steelyard weight may tip a hundred pounds (idiom)
14
Total compounds
57
As first character
0
As last character
43
As middle character

虽 appears in 14 compound words: 57 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 43 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 虽 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

然rán
0.72790,624 co-occurrences
但dàn
0.713283 co-occurrences
趣qù
0.681118 co-occurrences
馁něi
0.62717 co-occurrences
思sī
0.559118 co-occurrences
写xiě
0.507118 co-occurrences
字zì
0.417125 co-occurrences
意yì
0.402121 co-occurrences
却què
0.38832 co-occurrences
旬xún
0.38716 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

话虽如此huàsuīrúcǐHSK 4+

that said; nevertheless; be that as it may

phrase
虽败犹荣suībàiyóuróngHSK 5+

to experience a glorious defeat; to feel honored despite having been defeated

phrase
虽迟但到suī chí dàn dàoHSK 3+

late yet arrived

phrase
虽死犹生suī sǐ yóu shēngHSK 5+

lit. although dead, as if still alive (idiom); still with us in spirit

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

虽然遇到了很多困难,但他从未放弃过自己的梦想。

Suīrán yù dào le hěn duō kùnnán, dàn tā cóng wèi fàngqì guo zìjǐ de mèngxiǎng.

Although he encountered many difficulties, he never gave up on his dreams.

工商時報Apr 2026

中东虽停火,但油价仍较战争爆发前上涨66.9%...

zhōng dōng suī tíng huǒ , dàn yóu jià réng jiào zhàn zhēng bào fā qián shàng zhǎng 6 6 . 9 . . .

Although a ceasefire has been declared in the Middle East, oil prices remain 66.9% higher than before the war broke out...

BastillepostApr 2026

陈茂波:第一季全球局势虽复杂多变 港股IPO仍强势集资额全球称冠

chén mào bō : dì yī jì quán qiú jú shì suī fù zá duō biàn gǎng gǔ I P O réng qiáng shì jí zī é quán qiú chèn guàn

Paul Chan: Despite a Complex and Volatile Global Landscape in the First Quarter, Hong Kong IPOs Remained Strong, Leading the World in Fundraising

上海有色网Apr 2026

【SMM贵阳建材库存】库存虽季节性去化 但需求表现一般

S M M guì yáng jiàn cái kù cún kù cún suī jì jié xìng qù huà dàn xū qiú biǎo xiàn yī bān

[SMM Guiyang Building Materials Inventory] Inventory is being drawn down seasonally, but demand remains lackluster

三立新聞網Mar 2026

热/旺宏虽被抓去关 新目标价曝

rè wàng hóng suī bèi zhuā qù guān xīn mù biāo jià pù

Despite Hot/Wan Hong Being Arrested and Detained, New Target Price Revealed

NewsFeb 2026

高档餐厅吃饭要给20%小费?美食家:制度虽不完美却默契

gāo dàng cān tīng chī fàn yāo gěi xiǎo fèi ? měi shí jiā zhì dù suī bù wán měi què mò qì

Do you have to tip 20% when eating at a high-end restaurant? Gourmet: Although the system is not perfect, it is tacit

Tatoeba

虽然时髦一点,但是价钱太大!

Suīrán shímáo yīdiǎn, dànshì jiàqian tài dà!

It's kind of in vogue, but the price is too much!

Tatoeba

虽然他很有钱,但他不幸福。

Suīrán tā hěn yǒu qián, dàn tā bù xìngfú.

He's rich, but he isn't happy.

Tatoeba

虽然正在刮暴风雨,但他还是出去了。

Suīrán zhèngzài guā bàofēngyǔ, dàn tā háishi chūqù le.

He went out in spite of the storm.

Tatoeba

他虽然只学了两年的英文,但也说得不错。

Tā suīrán zhǐ xué le liǎng nián de Yīngwén, dàn yě shuō de bù cuò.

His English is not bad, seeing that he has studied for only two years.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced suī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 虽 (suī) mean in Chinese?
虽 (suī) primarily means "although." It is classified as HSK Level 2, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #504 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 虽 have?
虽 is written with 9 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 虽?
The radical associated with 虽 is 虫 (insect). This radical appears in many characters related to insect.
What are the components of 虽?
虽 is composed of: 口 (structural), 虫 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱口虫 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 虽?
Common words with 虽 include: 虽然 (suī rán, "although"); 虽说 (suī shuō, "though"); 话虽如此 (huà suī rú cǐ, "be that as it may"); 虽是 (suī shì, "although"); 虽则 (suī zé, "nevertheless"). There are over 14 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 虽 (suī)?
Several characters share the pronunciation suī: 随 (to follow), 岁 (years old), 碎 (broken), 遂 (to satisfy), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 虽 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 虽 and the traditional form is 雖.

Practice writing 虽 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.