呢 (ne) is a Chinese character meaning “sentence-final particle: bounces a question back (「你呢?」),”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 尼 (Buddhist nun; (here) sound component ní), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “question particle”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
口 + 尼
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 呢 stroke geometry (口 3 + 尼 5 = 8 strokes)
Memory aid
A mouth (口) borrows the sound of 尼 (ní) and lets it hang softly at the end — the little tail a question leaves in the air.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 你呢nǐ neand you? / what about you?呢 = neHSK 1
Go deeper
All readings
question particle
sentence-final particle: bounces a question back (「你呢?」), or marks an ongoing situation
句末语气词。用来反问对方（你呢？），也表示动作正在进行。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 你呢nǐ neand you? / what about you?呢 = neHSK 1
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 呢 mean?
呢 (ne) means sentence-final particle: bounces a question back (「你呢?」), or marks an ongoing situation.
How do you pronounce 呢?
It is pronounced ne.
What parts is 呢 made of?
口 (mouth) and 尼 (Buddhist nun; (here) sound component ní), side by side. The recorded source is: modern decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 呢 stroke geometry (口 3 + 尼 5 = 8 strokes). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 呢 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 呢?
口. 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 呢?
Common ones are 你呢. The reading of 呢 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.