医院
hospital
HSK level
- Pinyin
- yīyuàn
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 16
- Register
- neutral
- Measure word
- 家 / 个
- In episodes
- 2
Stroke order for 医院
医院 is written with 16 strokes (医: 7, 院: 9). The animation replays automatically.
What does 医院 mean?
医院 (yīyuàn) means 'hospital' — a medical institution where people receive treatment, surgery, and care.
The compound combines 医 (yī, 'medicine / to heal') with 院 (yuàn, 'institution / large enclosed building'), parallel to other 院-suffixed buildings like 学院 (college), 法院 (court), and 电影院 (cinema). A few cultural and usage notes for English speakers. First, in Chinese 'going to the hospital' (去医院) covers what English splits into 'going to the hospital' and 'going to the doctor' — Chinese-style medicine is hospital-centric, so even minor visits to see a doctor are 去医院 or 去看医生.
Second, hospitals in China are graded 三甲 (sān jiǎ, 'top tier') down to lower-grade clinics; 大医院 (big hospital) signals a high-grade facility. Third, the related word 诊所 (zhěnsuǒ, 'clinic') is smaller and not interchangeable with 医院.
Character by character
Memory hook: 医 (medicine) + 院 (institution) = the medicine institution = hospital.
Hear 医院 in real episodes
医院 appears in 2 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
这道墙在巴黎的一个医院下面。
This wall is under a hospital in Paris.
A 2,000-Year-Old Wall Dug Up Under a Paris Hospital May Show Where Paris Began
以前，你要去医院。
In the past, you had to go to the hospital.
MIT Built a Battery You Can Swallow. It Powered a Device Inside a Pig for Three Days, Then Dissolved.
Example sentences
我去医院看医生。
Wǒ qù yīyuàn kàn yīshēng.
I'm going to the hospital to see a doctor.
neutral
她在医院工作。
Tā zài yīyuàn gōngzuò.
She works at a hospital.
neutral
医院离我家很近。
Yīyuàn lí wǒ jiā hěn jìn.
The hospital is close to my home.
neutral
请送他去医院。
Qǐng sòng tā qù yīyuàn.
Please take him to the hospital.
polite
Common phrases with 医院
Synonyms
诊所 is a small clinic for outpatient visits — no surgery, no overnight stays. 医院 is the full hospital with departments, surgery, and inpatient care. Don't confuse a 诊所 with a 医院.
Don't confuse 医院 with
医生 is the DOCTOR (the person). 医院 is the HOSPITAL (the place). Same 医 root, different second character: 生 ('life/person') vs 院 ('institution').
学院 (college / academy) shares the 院 suffix but with 学 ('study') instead of 医. Same pattern: [function] + 院 = institution for that function.
医务 means 'medical affairs / medical practice' (an abstract noun). 医院 is the physical building. 医务室 is a small medical room/clinic, not a full hospital.
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 医院 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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