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HSK 3

年轻

young

adjectiveneutral4 episodes
年
nián2nd tone
轻
qīng1st tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
niánqīng
Part of speech
adjective
Level
HSK 3
Strokes
15
Register
neutral
In episodes
4

Stroke order for 年轻

年轻 is written with 15 strokes (年: 6, 轻: 9). The animation replays automatically.

What does 年轻 mean?

年轻 (niánqīng) is the adjective for 'young' applied to people — typically anyone from teenagers through their thirties or forties, depending on the speaker's perspective.

It literally means 'years light,' i.e. not weighed down by many years. Two distinctions matter for English speakers: first, 年轻 is for people, not for objects — a young tree is 小, a new company is 新, not 年轻.

Second, 年轻 is broader than English 'young child'; a 年轻人 is a young adult, not a kid (use 小孩 for children). The opposite is 老 (lǎo, old). Common patterns: 年轻的时候 ('when [I] was young'), 年轻人 ('young person / youth'), 看起来很年轻 ('looks young'). It's a compliment in almost every context.

Character by character

年niányear; age
+
轻qīnglight (in weight)
=
年轻

Memory hook: Few years = light years on your back = young.

Hear 年轻 in real episodes

年轻 appears in 4 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.

Nigeria's 28-Year-Old Oba Femi Defeated WWE's "Beast" Brock Lesnar Inside Hell in a Cell年轻 spoken at natural speednormalWWE's Hell in a Cell Sees Nigeria's 28-Year-Old Oba Femi Defeat "The Beast" Brock Lesnar年轻 spoken at natural speedmediumNigerian Newcomer Oba Femi Defeated WWE's "Beast" Brock Lesnar in a Cage Match年轻 spoken at natural speedeasyYoung Nigerian Oba Femi Beat WWE's "Beast" Brock Lesnar in a Steel Cage年轻 spoken at natural speedbeginner
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Example sentences

她看起来很年轻。

Tā kàn qǐlái hěn niánqīng.

She looks very young.

spoken

年轻的时候，我喜欢运动。

Niánqīng de shíhou, wǒ xǐhuan yùndòng.

When I was young, I liked sports.

neutral

现在的年轻人喜欢用手机看新闻。

Xiànzài de niánqīngrén xǐhuan yòng shǒujī kàn xīnwén.

Young people today like to read news on their phones.

neutral

你比我年轻三岁。

Nǐ bǐ wǒ niánqīng sān suì.

You're three years younger than me.

spoken

他还年轻，可以再学。

Tā hái niánqīng, kěyǐ zài xué.

He's still young — he can learn again.

spoken

Common phrases with 年轻

年轻人niánqīngrényoung person; the youth
很年轻hěn niánqīngvery young
年轻的时候niánqīng de shíhouwhen (one was) young
看起来年轻kàn qǐlái niánqīnglooks young
年轻有为niánqīng yǒu wéiyoung and accomplished

Synonyms

小xiǎo

小 means 'small / young' for children specifically (他还小 = he's still little). 年轻 is for teens and adults. Don't call a five-year-old 年轻 — say 还小.

幼yòu

幼 means 'young' in a more literary or biological sense (幼儿 = infant, 幼小 = young and small). 年轻 is the everyday spoken adjective for young adults.

Don't confuse 年轻 with

年纪niánjì

年纪 is a noun meaning 'age' (你多大年纪？= How old are you?). 年轻 is an adjective meaning 'young.' You can't say 我很年纪; you say 我很年轻 or 我年纪小.

轻qīng

轻 alone means 'light in weight' (这个包很轻 = this bag is light). 年轻 means 'young.' Don't drop the 年 — 这个人很轻 means the person is physically light, not young.

FAQ

Related words from the same episodes

比赛contest, competition表演performance打to hit, to strike高兴happy害怕to fear觉得to feel, to think开始to begin看to look累tired力气strength输to lose摔跤wrestling

Acquire it by listening

Meet 年轻 again — in real Chinese, at your level.

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