忆 (yì) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

yì to remember, to reflect upon; memory 4 strokes · Radical 忄 (heart) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)

👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 忆 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced yì.

to remember
to reflect upon
memory

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

忆 — 4 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图（数字为下笔顺序）。

Decomposition

忆 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

忆 =

忄 left heart

乙 right second

Radical

The radical of 忆 is 忄 — meaning heart. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: 性怀悔惊懒恼惜愉.

How the character is built

忆 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 忄 (heart) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 乙 originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 忆

回忆 huíyì to recall; to recollect

这张照片让我回忆起了大学时光。

Zhè zhāng zhàopiàn ràng wǒ huíyì qǐ le dàxué shíguāng.

This photo reminds me of my college days.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

忆 appears in 17 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

所以，我们应该收起回忆，认真做好眼前的事，这样才能走好以后的路。

From Mock Exam 19 →

关于回忆，下列哪个正确？

From Mock Exam 19 →

FAQ

What does 忆 mean in Chinese?

忆 (yì) means to remember, to reflect upon; memory. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 忆 have?

忆 is written in 4 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 忆?

The radical of 忆 is 忄 (heart). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 性, 怀, 悔, 惊, 懒.

What is the pinyin for 忆?

忆 is pronounced yì.

What HSK 4 words use 忆?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 忆 appears in 1 word, including 回忆 (huíyì). See the full list above.