奶 (nǎi) is a Chinese character meaning “milk”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 乃 (thus; only then), side by side, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “nǎi — milk”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
女 + 乃
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形 IDS 分解 ⿰女乃，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数一致（女 3 + 乃 2 = 5）；乃 nǎi 与本字读音一致，作声符
Memory aid
女 (woman) on the left says what this is about; 乃 on the right is already read nǎi, so it hands you the sound. Woman + nǎi = 奶, milk.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 牛奶niú nǎimilk (cow's milk)奶 = nǎi
- 奶奶nǎi naipaternal grandmother; grandma奶 = nǎi
Go deeper
All readings
milk
milk; breast; (in 奶奶) grandma
乳汁；乳房；也用于称呼祖母（奶奶）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 牛奶niú nǎimilk (cow's milk)奶 = nǎi
- 奶奶nǎi naipaternal grandmother; grandma奶 = nǎi
Sound component
乃 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 奶 mean?
奶 (nǎi) means milk; breast; (in 奶奶) grandma.
How do you pronounce 奶?
It is pronounced nǎi.
What parts is 奶 made of?
女 (woman; female) and 乃 (thus; only then), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形 IDS 分解 ⿰女乃，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数一致（女 3 + 乃 2 = 5）；乃 nǎi 与本字读音一致，作声符. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 奶 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 奶?
女. 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 奶?
Common ones are 牛奶 and 奶奶. The reading of 奶 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.