位 (wèi): position, measure word

位 (wèi) is a Chinese character meaning “position, measure word.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural) and 立 (structural). It ranks #182 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 位 the place where a person 亻 stands 立. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. position, measure word

Etymology & Origin

位

ideographicThe place where a person 亻 stands 立

Decomposition: ⿰亻立 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 位

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
各位pronoungè wèieverybody4
位置nounwèi zhiposition5
座位nounzuò wèiseat4
职位nounzhí wèiposition6
地位noundì wèiposition5
定位verb/noundìng wèito orientate6
单位noundān wèiunit (of measure)4
位于verbwèi yúto be located at5
学位nounxué wèiacademic degree6
部位nounbù wèipart (esp. of the body, but also of a vegetable, e.g. the root, or a garment, e.g. the sleeve, etc)6
岗位noungǎng wèia post6
方位nounfāng wèidirection6
车位nounchē wèiparking spot4

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
位子nounwèi ziplace
各就各位phrasegè jiù gè wèi(of the people in a group) to get into position (idiom)
到位verbdào wèito get to the intended location
品位nounpǐn wèirank
诸位pronounzhū wèi(pron) everyone
王位nounwáng wèititle of king
席位nounxí wèia seat (in a theater, stadium etc)
同位素tóng wèi sùisotope
空位nounkōng wèiempty place
停车位nountíng chē wèiparking space
床位nounchuáng wèibed (in hospital, hotel, train etc)
全方位quán fāng wèiall around
机位jī wèicamera position
归位verbguī wèito put sth back where it belongs
错位verbcuò wèito be wrongly positioned
106
Total compounds
7
As first character
92
As last character
2
As middle character

位 appears in 106 compound words: 7 as the first character, 92 as the last, and 2 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 位 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

于yú
0.609581,080 co-occurrences
置zhì
0.541294,649 co-occurrences
单dān
0.503168,370 co-occurrences
护hù
0.49864,186 co-occurrences
积jī
0.48964,382 co-occurrences
硕shuò
0.47313,646 co-occurrences
图tú
0.46568,188 co-occurrences
是shì
0.442385,386 co-occurrences
保bǎo
0.43194,004 co-occurrences
一yī
0.425416,566 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (11)

本位货币běnwèi huòbìHSK 5+

local currency; standard currency

noun
地理位置dìlǐ wèizhìHSK 5+

geographical location

noun
各就各位gèjiùgèwèiHSK 4+

each person performs their respective role or goes to their own place; on your marks!; take your position!

phrase
换位思考huànwèi sīkǎoHSK 3+

to put oneself in someone's shoes

phrase
荣誉学位róng yù xué wèiHSK 6+

honorary degree; (U.K. etc) honours degree

phrase
三位一体sān wèi yī tǐHSK 2+

Holy Trinity; trinity

phrase
尸位素餐shīwèisùcānHSK 7+

hold one's position and live without doing anything

phrase
位极人臣wèijírénchénHSK 6+

to have reached the highest official positions

phrase
五等爵位WǔděngjuéwèiHSK 7+

the five ranks of Chinese aristocracy under the Zhou dynasty (周朝 (Zhōucháo)).

虚位以待xū wèi yǐ dàiHSK 5+

to reserve a seat; to leave a position vacant

phrase
长生禄位cháng shēng lù wèi

tablet in honor of a person who is still alive (or was alive when the tablet was created)

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这位客户是我们的重要合作伙伴,需要好好接待。

Zhè wèi kèhù shì wǒmen de zhòngyào hézuò huǒbàn, xūyào hǎohao jiēdài.

This client is our important partner and needs to be well received.

百度新闻Feb 2026

忻州市房地产市场多项指标居全省首位

忻 zhōu shì fáng dì chǎn shì chǎng duō xiàng zhǐ biāo jū quán shěng shǒu wèi

Xinzhou real estate market tops the province in a number of indicators

百度新闻Feb 2026

请停留3秒 为这5位空军勇士献花!今天是万家团圆的..

qǐng tíng liú miǎo wéi zhè wèi kōng jūn yǒng shì xiàn huā ! jīn tiān shì mò jiā tuán yuán de . .

Please stay for 3 seconds to lay flowers for these 5 Air Force warriors! Today is the day of family reunion...

百度新闻Feb 2026

欧洲斯托克600指数触及新纪录高位

ōu zhōu sī tuō kè zhǐ shǔ chù jí xīn jì lù gāo wèi

Europe's Stoxx 600 touches new record highs

百度新闻Feb 2026

...年收获满满,山东信息职业技术学院向合作单位..

. . . nián shōu huò mǎn mǎn , shān dōng xìn xī zhí yè jì shù xué yuàn xiàng gě zuò shàn wèi . .

...A fruitful year, Shandong Information Vocational College extends its gratitude to partner institutions...

百度新闻Feb 2026

...里飘出就业香 海州乡土人才市集767个岗位引才..

. . . lǐ piāo chū jiù yè xiāng hǎi zhōu xiāng tǔ rén cái shì jí gě gāng wèi yǐn cái . .

Job Opportunities Abound: Haizhou Local Talent Market Offers 767 Positions to Attract Professionals

Tatoeba

你认为他适合这个职位吗?

Nǐ rènwéi tā shìhé zhège zhíwèi ma?

Do you think he is good for the position?

Tatoeba

那位求职者能胜任工作吗?

Nà wèi qiúzhízhě néng shèngrèn gōngzuò ma?

Does the applicant have suitable abilities to carry out the job?

Tatoeba

请问,这位女士是什么人?

Qǐngwèn, zhèwèi nǚshì shì shénmerén?

Excuse me, who is this woman?

Tatoeba

这位女士是不是推销员?

Zhèwèi nǚshì shìbùshì tuīxiāoyuán?

Is this lady a saleswoman?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced wèi

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 位 (wèi) mean in Chinese?
位 (wèi) primarily means "position, measure word." It is classified as HSK Level 2, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #182 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 位 have?
位 is written with 7 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 位?
The radical associated with 位 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.
What are the components of 位?
位 is composed of: 亻 (structural), 立 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻立 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 位?
Common words with 位 include: 各位 (gè wèi, "everybody"); 位置 (wèi zhi, "position"); 座位 (zuò wèi, "seat"); 职位 (zhí wèi, "position"); 位子 (wèi zi, "place"). There are over 106 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 位 (wèi)?
Several characters share the pronunciation wèi: 为 (as (in the capacity of)), 维 (to maintain), 围 (to encircle), 微 (ancient Chinese state near present-day Chongqing), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 位 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 位 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 位 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.