永 (yǒng): forever, always, perpetual
永 (yǒng) is a Chinese character meaning “forever.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 水 (structural). It ranks #842 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- forever
- always
- perpetual
Stroke Order
Practice writing 永 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 永
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 永不 | yǒng bù | never |
| 永恒 | yǒng héng | eternal |
| 永久 | yǒng jiǔ | everlasting |
| 永生 | yǒng shēng | to live forever |
| 永别 | yǒng bié | to part forever |
| 永久性 | yǒng jiǔ xìng | permanent |
| 永世 | yǒng shì | eternal |
| 永存 | yǒng cún | everlasting |
| 永吉 | yǒng jí | see 永吉縣|永吉县[Yong3 ji2 Xian4] |
| 永泰 | yǒng tài | see 永泰縣|永泰县[Yong3 tai4 Xian4] |
| 永济 | yǒng jì | see 永濟市|永济市[Yong3 ji4 Shi4] |
| 永登 | yǒng dēng | see 永登縣|永登县[Yong3 deng1 Xian4] |
| 永新 | yǒng xīn | see 永新縣|永新县[Yong3 xin1 Xian4] |
| 永善 | yǒng shàn | Yongshan county in Zhaotong 昭通[Zhao1 tong1], Yunnan |
| 永顺 | yǒng shùn | see 永順縣|永顺县[Yong3 shun4 Xian4] |
永 appears in 100 compound words: 87 as the first character, 4 as the last, and 9 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 永 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
Yongle Encyclopaedia (the largest leishu encyclopaedia in Chinese history, later scattered and mostly lost)
Example Sentences
暴雨过后，永水上涨，淹没了低洼的街道。
bào yǔ guò hòu , yǒng shuǐ shǎng zhǎng , yān méi le dī 洼 de jiē dào .
After the downpour, the Yong River swelled, flooding the low-lying streets.
富邦金控连续10年入选标普全球永续年鉴 2026年名列全球保险业前5%
fù bāng jīn kòng lián xù 1 0 nián rù xuǎn biāo pǔ quán qiú yǒng xù nián jiàn 2 0 2 6 nián míng liè quán qiú bǎo xiǎn yè qián 5
Fubon Financial Holdings has been selected in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook for 10 consecutive years and ranks among the top 5% of the global insurance industry in 2026
彭博示警 缓冲期过后祭301永久措施
彭 bó shì jǐng huǎn chōng qī guò hòu jì 3 0 1 yǒng jiǔ cuò shī
Bloomberg warns of permanent measures to sacrifice 301 after the buffer period
台北101风水池民众提桶装 贾永婕急喊话
tái běi 1 0 1 fēng shuǐ chí mín zhòng tí tǒng zhuāng gǔ yǒng 婕 jí hǎn huà
Taipei 101 Feng Shui Pool People carry buckets Jia Yongjie shouted urgently
星星之火足以燎原!永康营业场所角落起火 乱丢菸蒂惹祸
xīng xīng zhī huǒ zú yǐ 燎 yuán ! yǒng kāng yíng yè chǎng suǒ jiǎo luò qǐ huǒ luàn diū 菸 dì rě huò
A spark is enough to set fire to the plains! A fire broke out in the corner of Yongkang's business premises, and littering cigarette butts caused trouble
女性永远只能扮演次要角色吗？
Nǚxìng yǒngyuǎn zhǐnéng bànyǎn cìyào juésè ma?
Must the woman always play the secondary role?
你相信死后永生吗？
Nǐ xiāngxìn sǐhòu yǒngshēng ma?
Do you believe in eternal life after death?
顾客永远是正确的吗？
Gùkè yǒngyuǎn shì zhèngquè de ma?
Is the customer always right?
汤姆永远也不会原谅我了，是吗？
Tāngmǔ yǒngyuǎn yě bù huì yuánliàng wǒ le, shì ma?
Tom is never going to forgive me, is he?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 永 (yǒng) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 永 have?
What is the radical of 永?
What are the components of 永?
What are common words containing 永?
What characters sound the same as 永 (yǒng)?
Is 永 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 永 with real-time feedback
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