忆 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “to recall”. It is written from 忄 (heart (left-side form)) and 乙 (second Heavenly Stem), side by side, and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “to recall”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
忄 + 乙
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern-glyph-decomposition (IDS ⿰忄乙; 3+1 strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data)
Memory aid
The heart on the left (忄) holding on to one small hook (乙) — one thing the heart refuses to let go of: a memory.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 记忆jì yìmemory; to remember忆 = yìHSK 4
- 回忆huí yìto recall; to look back on忆 = yìHSK 4
Go deeper
All readings
to recall
to recall; to recollect; memory
想起过去的事；也指保存在脑子里的过去的事。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 记忆jì yìmemory; to remember忆 = yìHSK 4
- 回忆huí yìto recall; to look back on忆 = yìHSK 4
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 忆 mean?
忆 (yì) means to recall; to recollect; memory.
How do you pronounce 忆?
It is pronounced yì.
What parts is 忆 made of?
忄 (heart (left-side form)) and 乙 (second Heavenly Stem), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph-decomposition (IDS ⿰忄乙; 3+1 strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 忆 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 忆?
心. 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 忆?
Common ones are 记忆 and 回忆. The reading of 忆 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.