烟 (yān) is a Chinese character meaning “smoke”. It is written from 火 (fire) and 因 (cause; reason), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “smoke”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
火 + 因
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern-glyph-decomposition (IDS ⿰火因; 4+6 strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data)
Memory aid
Fire (火) is the cause (因) of smoke: wherever smoke rises, a fire is the reason behind it.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 抽烟chōu yānto smoke (a cigarette)烟 = yān
- 戒烟jiè yānto quit smoking烟 = yān
- 烟囱yān cōngchimney; smokestack烟 = yān
- 烟蒂yān dìcigarette butt烟 = yān
Go deeper
All readings
smoke; cigarette
smoke; mist, vapour; tobacco, cigarette
物质燃烧时产生的气体；像烟的雾气；也指烟草、香烟。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 抽烟chōu yānto smoke (a cigarette)烟 = yān
- 戒烟jiè yānto quit smoking烟 = yān
- 烟囱yān cōngchimney; smokestack烟 = yān
- 烟蒂yān dìcigarette butt烟 = yān
Sound component
因 family rime near
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 烟 mean?
烟 (yān) means smoke; mist, vapour; tobacco, cigarette.
How do you pronounce 烟?
It is pronounced yān.
What parts is 烟 made of?
火 (fire) and 因 (cause; reason), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph-decomposition (IDS ⿰火因; 4+6 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 烟 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 烟?
火. 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 烟?
Common ones are 抽烟, 戒烟, 烟囱. The reading of 烟 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.