友 (yǒu): friend
友 (yǒu) is a Chinese character meaning “friend.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 又 (structural). It ranks #594 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 友 two hands 又 joined, representing friendship; 又 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 又 (again) appears in many related characters such as 又 (yòu, (once) again), 发 (fā, to send out), 取 (qǔ, to take).
Definitions
- friend
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTwo hands 又 joined, representing friendship; 又 also provides the pronunciation
Stroke Order
Practice writing 友 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 友
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 朋友noun | péng you | friend | 1 |
| 女朋友noun | nǚ péng you | girlfriend | 1 |
| 男朋友noun | nán péng you | boyfriend | 1 |
| 友好adjective | yǒu hǎo | friendly | 4 |
| 友谊noun | yǒu yì | companionship | 4 |
| 小朋友noun | xiǎo péng yǒu | child | 1 |
| 友情noun | yǒu qíng | friendly feelings | 4 |
| 亲朋好友 | qīn péng hǎo yǒu | friends and family | 5 |
| 网友noun | wǎng yǒu | online friend | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 男友 | nán yǒu | boyfriend |
| 女友 | nǚ yǒu | girlfriend |
| 老朋友 | lǎo péng you | old friend |
| 室友 | shì yǒu | roommate |
| 友善 | yǒu shàn | friendly |
| 队友 | duì yǒu | teammate |
| 好友 | hǎo yǒu | close friend |
| 老友 | lǎo yǒu | old friend |
| 战友 | zhàn yǒu | comrade-in-arms |
| 盟友 | méng yǒu | ally |
| 校友 | xiào yǒu | schoolmate |
| 挚友 | zhì yǒu | intimate friend |
| 亲友 | qīn yǒu | friends and relatives |
| 交友 | jiāo yǒu | to make friends |
| 密友 | mì yǒu | close friend |
友 appears in 100 compound words: 16 as the first character, 77 as the last, and 7 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 友 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
Example Sentences
他是我最好的朋友，我们从小一起长大。
Tā shì wǒ zuì hǎo de péngyou, wǒmen cóngxiǎo yīqǐ zhǎng dà.
He is my best friend; we grew up together since childhood.
被欠钱“拖过年” 女撂男友讨债砍前任一家三代
bèi qiàn qián tuō guò nián nǚ 撂 nán yǒu tǎo zhài kǎn qián rèn yī jiā sān dài
Being owed money "dragged on for the New Year" The woman abandoned her boyfriend to collect debts and cut off three generations of her ex's family
小伙出售前女友送的银手镯,剪开发现内芯为30克高纯..
xiǎo huǒ chū shòu qián nǚ yǒu sòng de yín shǒu 镯 , jiǎn kāi fā xiàn nèi xīn wéi kè gāo chún . .
The guy sold his ex-girlfriend to send the silver bracelet, cut open and found that the core for 30 grams of high-purity...
和首都女铁骑,做一天朋友
hé shǒu dū nǚ tiě qí , zuò yī tiān péng yǒu
I'll be friends for a day with the Capital Rangers.
春节不忘训练!侯友宜化身“一日骑警”,体验马术训练..
chūn jié bù wàng xùn liàn ! 侯 yǒu yí huā shēn yī rì qí jǐng , tī yàn mǎ shù xùn liàn . .
Spring Festival Training! HOU Youyi becomes a "one-day mounted police officer", experiencing equestrian training...
春晚机器人“摔倒”,网友:是故意的还是不小心的?宇..
chūn wǎn jī qì rén shuāi dǎo , wǎng yǒu shì gù yì de hái shì bù xiǎo xīn de ? yǔ . .
Spring Festival Gala robot "fall", netizens: is it intentional or accidental? Yu...
他是我的朋友。你们认识吗？
Tā shì wǒ de péngyou. nǐmen rènshi ma?
He's my friend. Do you know him?
你的朋友近来在忙些什么？
Nǐ de péngyou jìnlái zài máng xiē shénme?
What has your friend been doing recently?
你也邀请你的朋友了吗？
Nǐ yě yāoqǐng nǐ de péngyou le ma?
You've invited your friends as well?
我们就不能只做朋友吗？
Wǒmen jiù bù néng zhǐ zuò péngyou ma?
Can't we just be friends?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 友 (yǒu) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 友 have?
What is the radical of 友?
What are the components of 友?
What are common words containing 友?
What characters sound the same as 友 (yǒu)?
Is 友 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 友 with real-time feedback
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