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

xiàn to envy, to covet; to admire, to praise 12 strokes · Radical (sheep) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 羡 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 xiàn.

Stroke Order & Practice

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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
羡 — 12 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Top + Bottom. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
top sheep
bottom order

Radical

The radical of is — meaning sheep. 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: .

How the character is built

is an ideographic compound — its meaning is suggested by the combination of its parts rather than by sound. Someone who has a whole row 次 of sheep 羊.

HSK 4 Words Containing 羡

xiànmù to envy; to admire
大家都很羡慕他的工作。
Dàjiā dōu hěn xiànmù tā de gōngzuò.
Everyone envies his job.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 16 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

不要总是慕别人。
From Mock Exam 15 →
他们的感情那么好,让周围的朋友们都很慕。
From Mock Exam 12 →

Tasks Featuring 羡 / 相关任务

Words containing appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:

📚 谈论某个人物
Describe a Person · 羡慕

FAQ

What does 羡 mean in Chinese?

羡 (xiàn) means to envy, to covet; to admire, to praise. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 羡 have?

羡 is written in 12 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 羡?

The radical of 羡 is 羊 (sheep). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 美, 羞.

What is the pinyin for 羡?

羡 is pronounced xiàn.

What HSK 4 words use 羡?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 羡 appears in 1 word, including 羡慕 (xiànmù). See the full list above.

xiǎn All Characters xiāng →