吟 (yín): to chant, to recite

吟 (yín) is a Chinese character meaning “to chant.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 今 (phonetic). It ranks #3006 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 吟 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 吃 (chī, to eat), 喝 (hē, to drink).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 口 mouth7 strokesFrequency #3006口 semantic 今 phonetic

Definitions

to chant
to recite

Etymology & Origin

吟

pictophoneticmouth

Decomposition: ⿰口今 (layout: left-right)

Components:口semantic 今phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 吟 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
呻吟	shēn yín	to moan
吟唱	yín chàng	to chant
吟诗	yín shī	to recite poetry
吟诵	yín sòng	to read aloud
吟咏	yín yǒng	to recite
沉吟	chén yín	to mutter to oneself irresolutely
笑吟吟	xiào yín yín	smiling
吟风弄月	yín fēng nòng yuè	lit. singing of the wind and the moon
游吟诗人	yóu yín shī rén	troubadour
无病呻吟	wú bìng shēn yín	(idiom) to moan and groan despite not being sick
低吟	dī yín	to chant softly
吟游	yín yóu	to wander as minstrel
歌吟	gē yín	to sing
喜吟吟	xǐ yín yín	joyful
朗吟	lǎng yín	to recite in a loud, clear voice

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

吟 appears in 17 compound words: 41 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 18 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 吟 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

呻shēn

0.7833,084 co-occurrences

咏yǒng

0.5831,500 co-occurrences

诵sòng

0.547894 co-occurrences

诗shī

0.4963,150 co-occurrences

啸xiào

0.465360 co-occurrences

唱chàng

0.4445,862 co-occurrences

肖xiào

0.4431,080 co-occurrences

蔚yù

0.404306 co-occurrences

卉huì

0.403168 co-occurrences

孔kǒng

0.4021,158 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

无病呻吟wúbìngshēnyínHSK 7+

to make a fuss about imaginary worries; to pine and whine about nothing; to adopt a sentimental pose

phrase

吟风弄月yín fēng nòng yuèHSK 7+

lit. singing of the wind and the moon; fig. vacuous and sentimental (of poetry or art)

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

他吟干舌燥地讲了两个小时，终于说服了大家。

tā yín gān shé zào dì jiǎng le liǎng gè xiǎo shí , zhōng yú shuō fú le dà jiā .

He spoke for two hours, his throat parched, and finally managed to convince everyone.

東方日報Mar 2026

龙吟虎啸:强力打击刻不容缓

lóng yín hǔ xiào : qiáng lì dǎ jī kè bù róng huǎn

Roaring Dragons and Howling Tigers: A Decisive Strike Is Urgent

東方日報Mar 2026

龙吟虎啸:选择性遗忘还是健忘

lóng yín hǔ xiào : xuǎn zé xìng yí wàng hái shì jiàn wàng

Roaring Dragons and Howling Tigers: Selective Amnesia or Simple Forgetfulness?

東方日報Mar 2026

龙吟虎啸:子虚乌有弄假成真

lóng yín hǔ xiào : zǐ xū wū yǒu nòng jiǎ chéng zhēn

Dragon Roars, Tiger Howls: Pure Nonsense—Faking It Until It’s Real

東方日報Mar 2026

龙吟虎啸:古老复仇于今尤烈

lóng yín hǔ xiào : gǔ lǎo fù qiú yú jīn yóu liè

The Roar of Dragons and Tigers: An Ancient Vengeance That Burns Even More Intensely Today

東方日報Feb 2026

龙吟虎啸:美元地位曾经衰落

lóng yín hǔ xiào : měi yuán dì wèi céng jīng shuāi luò

The roar of the dragon and the roar: The status of the dollar has declined

Character Family

口 Radical Family — Characters sharing the mouth radical

啊a 哎āi 哀āi 唉āi 叭bā 吧ba 哺bǔ 嘈cáo 唱chàng 嘲cháo

Related Characters

口kǒu 吃chī 喝hē 问wèn 叫jiào 响xiǎng 名míng 吐tǔ 可kě 吗ma

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 吟 (yín) mean in Chinese?

吟 (yín) primarily means "to chant." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3006 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 吟 and 贪?

吟 (yín) and 贪 (tān) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 口 vs 贝 (same 今 component).

How many strokes does 吟 have?

吟 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 吟?

The radical associated with 吟 is 口 (mouth). This radical appears in many characters related to mouth.

What are the components of 吟?

吟 is composed of: 口 (semantic), 今 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰口今 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 吟?

Common words with 吟 include: 呻吟 (shēn yín, "to moan"); 吟唱 (yín chàng, "to chant"); 吟诗 (yín shī, "to recite poetry"); 吟诵 (yín sòng, "to read aloud"); 吟咏 (yín yǒng, "to recite"). There are over 17 compound words containing this character.

Is 吟 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 吟 with real-time feedback

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