液 (yè) is a Chinese character meaning “liquid”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 夜 (night), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “liquid”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 夜
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字「液，从水夜聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵夜，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–10 与「夜」逐笔对应（3+8=11画）
Memory aid
Water (氵) that gathers at night (夜) — like dew forming in the dark — becomes a liquid.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 液体yè tǐliquid液 = yè
- 血液xuè yèblood液 = yè
- 尿液niào yèurine液 = yè
- 唾液tuò yèsaliva液 = yè
Go deeper
All readings
liquid
liquid; fluid; juice; secretion
能流动、没有固定形状的物质，如水、油、汁等。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 液体yè tǐliquid液 = yè
- 血液xuè yèblood液 = yè
- 尿液niào yèurine液 = yè
- 唾液tuò yèsaliva液 = yè
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 液 mean?
液 (yè) means liquid; fluid; juice; secretion.
How do you pronounce 液?
It is pronounced yè.
What parts is 液 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 夜 (night), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字「液，从水夜聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵夜，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–10 与「夜」逐笔对应（3+8=11画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 液 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 液?
氵. 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 液?
Common ones are 液体 and 血液. The reading of 液 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.