耶 (yē): (phonetic ye), interrogative particle (classical)

耶 (yē) is a Chinese character meaning “(phonetic ye).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 耳 (ear). It ranks #830 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 耳 ear9 strokesFrequency #830

Definitions

(phonetic ye)
interrogative particle (classical)

Stroke Order

Practice writing 耶 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
耶稣	yē sū	Jesus
耶鲁	yē lǔ	Yale
耶路撒冷	yē lù sā lěng	Jerusalem
耶酥	yē sū	variant of 耶穌\|耶稣[Ye1 su1]
耶和华	yē hé huá	Jehovah (biblical name for God, Hebrew: YHWH)
耶利米	yē lì mǐ	Jeremy or Jeremiah (name)
耶利哥	yē lì gē	Jericho (Biblical city)
耶西	yē xī	Jesse (son of Obed)
耶烈万	yē liè wàn	Yerevan, capital of Armenia
耶稣教	yē sū jiào	Protestantism
里维耶拉	lǐ wéi yē lā	riviera (loanword) (Tw)
耶哥尼雅	yē gē ní yǎ	Jechoniah or Jeconiah (son of Josiah)
耶和华见证人	yē hé huá jiàn zhèng rén	Jehovah's Witnesses
耶稣基督后期圣徒教会	yē sū jī dū hòu qī shèng tú jiào huì	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
瓦西里耶维奇	wǎ xī lǐ yē wéi qí	Vasilievich (name)

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

耶 appears in 62 compound words: 55 as the first character, 11 as the last, and 34 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

耶路撒冷YēlùsālěngHSK 6+

Jerusalem (the claimed (and de-facto) capital city of Israel; the claimed capital city of Palestine)

耶稣基督Yēsū JīdūHSK 6+

Jesus Christ

昭披耶河ZhāopīyéhéHSK 6+

Chao Phraya (river in Thailand)

Showing 3 of 4 idioms containing 耶.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

耶字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。

yē zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

Although the character "耶" is difficult to write, its meaning is quite interesting.

Orientaldaily MyMar 2026

耶稣道德比不上成吉思汗暴力? 内塔尼亚胡贬...

yē 稣 dào dé bǐ bù shàng chéng jí sī hàn bào lì ? nèi tǎ ní yà hú biǎn . . .

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Mar 2026

音乐为“桥”促交流耶鲁大学Whiffenpoofs合唱团走进...

yīn lè wéi qiáo cù jiāo liú yē lǔ dà xué W h i f f e n p o o f s gě chàng tuán zǒu jìn . . .

三立新聞網Mar 2026

“真的不要闹耶!”长辈喊捏婴鼻子才会挺

zhēn de bù yāo nào yē ! cháng bèi hǎn niē yīng bí zǐ cái huì tǐng

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

陈尚洁称无罪称剀剀“在耶稣那里没病痛”

chén shàng jié chèn wú zuì chèn 剀剀 zài yē 稣 nà lǐ méi bìng tòng

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

社工陈尚洁喊话剀剀“在耶稣那里无病痛” 检察官:求处重刑

shè gōng chén shàng jié hǎn huà 剀剀 zài yē 稣 nà lǐ wú bìng tòng jiǎn chá guān : qiú chǔ chóng xíng

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 耶 (yē) mean in Chinese?

耶 (yē) primarily means "(phonetic ye)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #830 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 耶 have?

耶 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 耶?

The radical associated with 耶 is 耳 (ear). This radical appears in many characters related to ear.

What are common words containing 耶?

Common words with 耶 include: 耶稣 (yē sū, "Jesus"); 耶鲁 (yē lǔ, "Yale"); 耶路撒冷 (yē lù sā lěng, "Jerusalem"); 耶酥 (yē sū, "variant of 耶穌|耶稣[Ye1 su1]"); 耶和华 (yē hé huá, "Jehovah (biblical name for God, Hebrew: YHWH)"). There are over 62 compound words containing this character.

Is 耶 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 耶 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 耶 with real-time feedback

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