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

líng age; years 13 strokes · Radical 齿 (teeth) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)

👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 龄 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 líng.

age
years

Stroke Order & Practice

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

龄 — 13 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图（数字为下笔顺序）。

Decomposition

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

龄 =

齿 left teeth

令 right command

Radical

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

How the character is built

龄 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 齿 (age) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 令 originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 龄

年龄 niánlíng age

你的年龄看起来比实际小。

Nǐ de niánlíng kànqǐlái bǐ shíjì xiǎo.

You look younger than your actual age.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

龄 appears in 26 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

成熟不仅仅和年龄有关。

From Mock Exam 06 →

尽管年龄不大，但这并没有限制他对生活的认识。

From Mock Exam 13 →

十几岁就步入社会的人，往往比同龄人有更多的经历。

From Mock Exam 07 →

Tasks Featuring 龄 / 相关任务

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

📚 谈论某个人物

Describe a Person · 年龄

FAQ

What does 龄 mean in Chinese?

龄 (líng) means age; years. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 龄 have?

龄 is written in 13 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 龄?

The radical of 龄 is 齿 (teeth).

What is the pinyin for 龄?

龄 is pronounced líng.

What HSK 4 words use 龄?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 龄 appears in 1 word, including 年龄 (niánlíng). See the full list above.