伊 (yī) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) he”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 尹 (to govern; an official (as a standalone character, yǐn)), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “that one; he/she (literary)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亻 + 尹
Left–right structure
- 亻 person (the form 人 takes on the left) · rén meaning
- 尹 to govern; an official (as a standalone character, yǐn) · yǐn meaning
Structure from: 说文解字·人部（伊，从人从尹）
Memory aid
A person (亻) standing beside a governor's hand holding a staff (尹) — you point at that one over there and say: 伊, that person.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 伊朗yī lǎngIran伊 = yī
- 伊拉克yī lā kèIraq伊 = yī
Go deeper
All readings
that one; he/she (literary)
(literary) he; she; that one; today mostly seen as the first syllable in transliterated names such as 伊朗 (Iran) and 伊拉克 (Iraq)
文言中用作第三人称或指示词「那个」；现代汉语中主要出现在音译词开头，如「伊朗」「伊拉克」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 伊朗yī lǎngIran伊 = yī
- 伊拉克yī lā kèIraq伊 = yī
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 伊 mean?
伊 (yī) means (literary) he; she; that one; today mostly seen as the first syllable in transliterated names such as 伊朗 (Iran) and 伊拉克 (Iraq).
How do you pronounce 伊?
It is pronounced yī.
What parts is 伊 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 尹 (to govern; an official (as a standalone character, yǐn)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·人部（伊，从人从尹）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 伊 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 伊?
人. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 伊?
Common ones are 伊朗 and 伊拉克. The reading of 伊 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.