(wǎng): net, network

(wǎng) is a Chinese character meaning “net.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural). It ranks #605 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically pictographic, a net for catching fish. Its radical form (net) appears in many related characters such as (zhì, to install), (, to punish), (, to stop).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. net
  2. network

Etymology & Origin

pictographicA net for catching fish

Decomposition: ⿵冂⿰乂乂 (layout: surround-from-top)

Components:structural

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounwǎng luònetwork (computing, telecommunications, transport etc)5
nounwǎng shàngonline2
nounwǎng zhànwebsite3
nounwǎng qiútennis3
verbwǎng gòuInternet shopping4
verbshàng wǎngto go online2
nounhù lián wǎngInternet4
nounwǎng yèweb page4
nounwǎng zhǐwebsite4
verblián wǎngto connect (or be connected) to a network6
nounwǎng yǒuonline friend4

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
diàn wǎngelectricity grid
wǎng lùnetwork (computer, telecom)
luó wǎngnet
luò wǎng(of a bird, fish etc) to be caught in a net
wǎng gégrid
wǎng bāInternet café
qíng wǎngsnare of love
fǎ wǎngthe net of justice
wǎng yǎnmesh
fà wǎnghairnet
sā wǎngto throw a net
sī wǎngsilk screen
lán wǎngto intercept at the net (volleyball, tennis etc)
wǎng luónet for fishing or bird catching
wǎng móretina (anatomy)
100
Total compounds
65
As first character
35
As last character
0
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 65 as the first character, 35 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

lào
0.841309,097 co-occurrences
0.56463,042 co-occurrences
zhàn
0.562256,008 co-occurrences
xié
0.52425,650 co-occurrences
lián
0.50475,966 co-occurrences
yǐn
0.4872,100 co-occurrences
guān
0.47887,804 co-occurrences
shì
0.46851,084 co-occurrences
liú
0.4643,612 co-occurrences
0.46136,474 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (10)

fǎ wǎng nán táoHSK 6+

it is hard to escape the net of justice (idiom)

phrase
hù lián wǎng zhànHSK 4+

Internet site

phrase
lòu wǎng yóu yúHSK 5+

see 漏網之魚|漏网之鱼[lou4 wang3 zhi1 yu2]

phrase
lòuwǎngzhīyúHSK 5+

people that are able to escape legal sanctions by luck

phrase
ménhù wǎngzhànHSK 4+

portal; web portal (website)

noun
nán táo fǎ wǎngHSK 6+

It is hard to escape the dragnet of the law; the long arm of the law

phrase
qūyù wǎnglùHSK 5+

local area network; LAN

noun
tiānwǎnghuīhuīHSK 5+

natural law

phrase
Wǎngjì WǎnglùHSK 4+

Internet

Wǎngjì WǎngluòHSK 5+

Internet

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

上购物已经成为现代人生活中不可或缺的一部分。

Wǎngshàng gòuwù yǐjīng chéngwéi xiàndài rén shēnghuó zhōng bùkě huòquē de yī bùfen.

Online shopping has become an indispensable part of modern people's lives.

百度新闻Feb 2026

山东济南红巨型空飘鳌鱼被大风吹走,现场工作人员尝...

shān dōng jì nán wǎng hóng jù xíng kōng piāo 鳌 yú bèi dà fēng chuī zǒu , xiàn chǎng gōng zuò rén yuán cháng . . .

Shandong Jinan Internet celebrity giant floating fish was blown away by the strong wind, and the on-site staff tasted...

百度新闻Feb 2026

利弗莫尔中概股龙头指数收涨0.94% 易有道涨近..

lì 弗 mò ěr zhōng gài gǔ lóng tóu zhǐ shǔ shōu zhǎng 0 . 9 4 wǎng yì yǒu dào zhǎng jìn . .

Livermore Chinese Concept Stock Leading Index closed up 0.94% NetEase Youdao rose nearby:

百度新闻Feb 2026

新春走基层|球传奇齐聚上海,精彩球技点燃新春佳节

xīn chūn zǒu jī céng wǎng qiú chuán qí qí jù shàng hǎi , jīng cǎi qiú jì diǎn rán xīn chūn jiā jié

Tennis legends gathered in Shanghai, and their wonderful skills ignited the Spring Festival

百度新闻Feb 2026

春晚机器人“摔倒”,友:是故意的还是不小心的?宇..

chūn wǎn jī qì rén shuāi dǎo , wǎng yǒu shì gù yì de hái shì bù xiǎo xīn de ? yǔ . .

Spring Festival Gala robot "fall", netizens: is it intentional or accidental? Yu...

百度新闻Feb 2026

用户报告多个络服务出现问题

yòng hù bào gào duō gě wǎng lào fú wù chū xiàn wèn tí

Users report issues with multiple network services.

Tatoeba

你昨天早上在打球吗?

Nǐ zuótiān zǎoshang zài dǎ wǎngqiú ma?

Were you playing tennis yesterday morning?

Tatoeba

今天可以借你的球拍一用吗?

Jīntiān kěyǐ jiè nǐ de wǎngqiú pāi yī yòng ma?

Can I borrow your tennis racket today?

Tatoeba

你放学后会去打球吗?

Nǐ fàngxuéhòu huì qù dǎ wǎngqiú ma?

Will you play tennis after school?

Tatoeba

为什么他今天不能打球呢?

Wèishénme tā jīntiān bù néng dǎ wǎngqiú ne?

Why can't he play tennis today?

Character Family

Radical Family — Characters sharing the net radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced wǎng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 网 (wǎng) mean in Chinese?
网 (wǎng) primarily means "net." It is classified as HSK Level 2, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #605 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 网 have?
网 is written with 5 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 网?
The radical associated with 网 is 罒 (net). In fact, 网 is itself the full form of this radical — the simplified radical form 罒 appears as a component in many related characters.
What are the components of 网?
网 is composed of: 冂 (structural), undefined (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿵冂⿰乂乂 with a surround-from-top layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 网?
Common words with 网 include: 网络 (wǎng luò, "network (computing, telecommunications, transport etc)"); 网上 (wǎng shàng, "online"); 网站 (wǎng zhàn, "website"); 网球 (wǎng qiú, "tennis"); 网购 (wǎng gòu, "Internet shopping"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 网 (wǎng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation wǎng: 汪 (expanse of water), 亡 (to die), 王 (king or monarch), 往 (to go (in a direction)), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 网 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 网 and the traditional form is 網.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.