永 (yǒng) is a Chinese character meaning “forever”. It is written from ㇔ (dot stroke) and ㇆ (horizontal-turning hook stroke) and ㇇ (horizontal-turning stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇏ (falling-right stroke), and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “forever”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇔ + ㇆ + ㇇ + ㇒ + ㇏
Overlapping structure
- ㇔ dot stroke unknown
- ㇆ horizontal-turning hook stroke unknown
- ㇇ horizontal-turning stroke unknown
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- ㇏ falling-right stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+6C38 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (five strokes: 点 / 横折钩 / 横撇 / 撇 / 捺)
Memory aid
A single drop (㇔) sits at the top. Under it the long hooked spine (㇆) runs all the way down like the main current. One stroke branches off to the left (㇇), and on the right a short slash (㇒) hands the water over to a long spreading sweep (㇏). One drop, and the stream keeps going — forever.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 永远yǒng yuǎnforever; always永 = yǒngspoken asyóng yuǎn
- 永久yǒng jiǔpermanent; everlasting永 = yǒngspoken asyóng jiǔ
- 永恒yǒng héngeternal; everlasting; perpetual永 = yǒng
Go deeper
All readings
forever
forever; always; lasting; eternal
长久；一直延续下去。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 永远yǒng yuǎnforever; always永 = yǒngspoken asyóng yuǎn
- 永久yǒng jiǔpermanent; everlasting永 = yǒngspoken asyóng jiǔ
- 永恒yǒng héngeternal; everlasting; perpetual永 = yǒng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 永 mean?
永 (yǒng) means forever; always; lasting; eternal.
How do you pronounce 永?
It is pronounced yǒng.
What parts is 永 made of?
㇔ (dot stroke) and ㇆ (horizontal-turning hook stroke) and ㇇ (horizontal-turning stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇏ (falling-right stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+6C38 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (five strokes: 点 / 横折钩 / 横撇 / 撇 / 捺). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 永 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 永?
水. 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 永?
Common ones are 永远 and 永久. The reading of 永 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.