梦 (mèng) is a Chinese character meaning “dream”. It is written from 林 (woods; grove (two trees side by side)) and 夕 (evening), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “dream”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
林 + 夕
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS modern simplified form ⿱林夕, verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke medians (strokes 0–7 = 林, 8–10 = 夕)
Memory aid
Deep in the woods (林) as evening (夕) falls, you drift off to sleep — and begin to dream.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 做梦zuò mèngto dream; to have a dream梦 = mèng
- 梦想mèng xiǎngdream; aspiration梦 = mèng
Go deeper
All readings
dream
dream; to dream; illusory
睡眠中出现的景象；做梦；比喻不切实际的幻想。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 做梦zuò mèngto dream; to have a dream梦 = mèng
- 梦想mèng xiǎngdream; aspiration梦 = mèng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 梦 mean?
梦 (mèng) means dream; to dream; illusory.
How do you pronounce 梦?
It is pronounced mèng.
What parts is 梦 made of?
林 (woods; grove (two trees side by side)) and 夕 (evening), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS modern simplified form ⿱林夕, verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke medians (strokes 0–7 = 林, 8–10 = 夕). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 梦 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 梦?
木. 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 梦?
Common ones are 做梦 and 梦想. The reading of 梦 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.