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HSK 2

也

also; too

adverbneutral
也
yě3rd tone

HSK level

1
2
3
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Pinyin
yě
Part of speech
adverb
Level
HSK 2
Strokes
3
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 也

也 is written with 3 strokes. The animation replays automatically.

What does 也 mean?

也 (yě) is the Chinese adverb for 'also / too / as well.'

Unlike English 'too,' which floats freely at the end of a sentence, 也 sits in a fixed position: BEFORE the verb (or before 是, 有, 很, etc.). 我也是学生 means 'I am a student too,' literally 'I also am student.' Putting 也 anywhere else sounds wrong.

也 always refers BACKWARD — it links the current sentence to something already established. If A says 我喜欢咖啡 and B says 我也喜欢, B means 'I also like it.' In negative sentences, 也 still goes before 不 or 没: 我也不知道 ('I don't know either'). Don't confuse 也 with 都 (dōu, 'all / both') — 也 means 'in addition,' 都 means 'every one of them.'

Example sentences

我也是学生。

Wǒ yě shì xuésheng.

I'm a student too.

neutral

他也喜欢吃中国菜。

Tā yě xǐhuan chī Zhōngguó cài.

He also likes eating Chinese food.

spoken

我也不知道。

Wǒ yě bù zhīdào.

I don't know either.

spoken

今天很冷，明天也很冷。

Jīntiān hěn lěng, míngtiān yě hěn lěng.

Today is cold, and tomorrow is cold too.

neutral

Common phrases with 也

我也是wǒ yě shìme too; same here
也不yě bùalso not; neither
也没有yě méiyǒudoesn't have either
也好yě hǎothat works too; fine then
也许yěxǔmaybe; perhaps

Synonyms

都dōu

都 means 'all / both' — it covers a complete set. 也 means 'in addition / also' — it adds one more case. 我们都是学生 ('all of us are students') vs 我也是学生 ('I am also a student').

还hái

还 means 'still / additionally' for ADDING items in the same sentence (我有书，还有笔 — 'I have a book, and also a pen'). 也 connects across sentences/people (你有书，我也有 — 'you have a book, I do too').

Don't confuse 也 with

都dōu

Beginners frequently swap these. 都 = all/both (set is complete). 也 = also (one more added). 我们都喜欢 ≠ 我们也喜欢.

野yě

Same pronunciation, different character. 野 means 'wild / countryside' (e.g. 野生 wildlife). Visually 野 has 里 + 予; 也 is a single component.

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