牙 (yá): tooth, ivory, CL:顆|颗
牙 (yá) is a Chinese character meaning “tooth.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 牙 (fang). It ranks #996 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- tooth
- ivory
- CL:顆|颗
Stroke Order
Practice writing 牙 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 牙
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 西班牙 | xī bān yá | Spain |
| 牙医 | yá yī | dentist |
| 刷牙 | shuā yá | to brush one's teeth |
| 假牙 | jiǎ yá | false teeth |
| 老掉牙 | lǎo diào yá | very old |
| 牙科 | yá kē | dentistry |
| 象牙 | xiàng yá | ivory |
| 牙签 | yá qiān | toothpick |
| 葡萄牙 | pú táo yá | Portugal |
| 门牙 | mén yá | front tooth |
| 爪牙 | zhǎo yá | pawn |
| 磨牙 | mó yá | to grind one's teeth (during sleep) |
| 獠牙 | liáo yá | tusk |
| 海牙 | hǎi yá | The Hague (seat of government of the Netherlands) |
| 乳牙 | rǔ yá | (dentistry) deciduous tooth |
牙 appears in 100 compound words: 40 as the first character, 52 as the last, and 8 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 牙 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
Santiago (various cities in Hispanophone countries, including the capital of Chile); San Diego
Santiago (various cities in Hispanophone countries, including the capital of Chile); San Diego
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 牙.
Example Sentences
写好牙字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo yá zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
To write the character for "tooth" correctly, you need to master the proper stroke order.
神韵展现对神的信仰 令牙医“深受鼓舞”
shén yùn zhǎn xiàn duì shén de xìn yǎng lìng yá yī shēn shòu gǔ wǔ
Shen Yun shows faith in God and makes dentists "deeply encouraged"
葡萄牙房地产发展势头不减,但步伐有所改变
pú táo yá fáng dì chǎn fā zhǎn shì tóu bù jiǎn , dàn bù fá yǒu suǒ gǎi biàn
Portuguese real estate is gaining momentum, but the pace has changed
牙痛要人命!蛀牙不补死亡风险增1.7倍
yá tòng yāo rén mìng ! zhù yá bù bǔ sǐ wáng fēng xiǎn zēng 1 . 7 bèi
Toothache can kill people! The risk of death without tooth decay increased by 1.7 times
在葡萄牙防治栗瘿蜂
zài pú táo yá fáng zhì 栗 瘿 fēng
Chestnut gall bee control in Portugal
不能把牙膏塞回管里。
Bù néng bǎ yágāo sāi huí guǎn lǐ.
You can't put toothpaste back in the tube.
鳄鱼有尖利的牙齿。
èyú yǒu jiānlì de yáchǐ.
Crocodiles have sharp teeth.
汤姆忘了买牙膏了。
Tāngmǔ wàng le mǎi yágāo le.
Tom forgot to buy toothpaste.
她用牙齿咬碎了核桃。
Tā yòng yáchǐ yǎo suì le hétao.
She cracked the walnut with her teeth.
在哪儿我能找到牙膏？
Zài nǎr wǒ néng zhǎodào yágāo?
Where can I find toothpaste?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 牙 (yá) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 牙 have?
What is the radical of 牙?
What are common words containing 牙?
What characters sound the same as 牙 (yá)?
Is 牙 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 牙 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.