影响
to influence; influence; impact
HSK level
- Pinyin
- yǐngxiǎng
- Part of speech
- verb
- Level
- HSK 3
- Strokes
- 24
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 4
Stroke order for 影响
影响 is written with 24 strokes (影: 15, 响: 9). The animation replays automatically.
What does 影响 mean?
影响 (yǐngxiǎng) functions as both a verb ('to influence; to affect') and a noun ('influence; impact').
Literally 'shadow + echo,' the image is of something casting a shadow or sending an echo that reaches farther than itself. As a verb: 别影响别人 ('don't disturb / affect others'); as a noun: 这件事的影响很大 ('the impact of this matter is huge'). One thing English speakers often miss: in Chinese, 影响 is frequently negative or neutral by default — closer to 'affect / disturb' than the warmer English 'influence.'
'Don't 影响 me' typically means 'don't bother me' or 'don't mess up what I'm doing,' not 'don't shape my character.' For a clearly positive 'influence,' add 好的 ('good 影响') or use 启发 (qǐfā, 'inspire').
Character by character
Memory hook: Shadow + echo — something that reaches you indirectly, just like an influence.
Hear 影响 in real episodes
影响 appears in 4 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.
去年，一项发表在《细胞》杂志上的大研究，观察了这类药物怎样影响孩子的大脑。
Last year, a major study published in the journal Cell looked at how these drugs affect children's brains.
ADHD May Not Be a Problem of 'Attention' at All
从中东去亚洲的天然气，运输受到了影响。
Natural gas shipments from the Middle East to Asia have been disrupted.
Crossing the Panama Canal Now Costs Up to $5 Million, as War and Drought Push Prices to a Record
加上其他行业的研究早就证明，睡眠不足会带来很多负面影响。
On top of that, research from other industries has long shown that lack of sleep has many negative effects.
The Economist's Joke Memo: A Company Tries to Fix Its Staff's Sleep, and Everything Goes WrongAdvanced
二十多年里，职业经理人在吉利来来去去，而这些人或多或少都影响了他。
Over more than twenty years, professional managers came and went at Geely, and all of them influenced him to some degree.
The Man Who Bought Volvo Just Handed His Carmaker to Someone Who Is Not FamilyAdvanced
Example sentences
看电视太多会影响学习。
Kàn diànshì tài duō huì yǐngxiǎng xuéxí.
Watching too much TV will affect your studies.
neutral
请小声一点儿，不要影响别人。
Qǐng xiǎoshēng yìdiǎnr, búyào yǐngxiǎng biérén.
Please be quieter, don't disturb others.
spoken
这本书对我影响很大。
Zhè běn shū duì wǒ yǐngxiǎng hěn dà.
This book had a big influence on me.
neutral
天气不好，影响了我们的旅行。
Tiānqì bù hǎo, yǐngxiǎng le wǒmen de lǚxíng.
The bad weather affected our trip.
neutral
他受到了老师的影响。
Tā shòudào le lǎoshī de yǐngxiǎng.
He was influenced by his teacher.
written
Common phrases with 影响
Synonyms
作用 means 'function / effect' — neutral, often about how something works. 这个药有什么作用？ ('What does this medicine do?'). 影响 is broader and often suggests downstream effects on people or situations.
效果 means 'result / effect / outcome' — the visible result of an action. 学习效果很好 ('the study results are good'). 影响 is the process of affecting; 效果 is the result.
Don't confuse 影响 with
影子 is a literal shadow (the dark shape on the ground). 影响 is figurative 'influence.' They share the 影 character but mean different things.
印象 is an 'impression' — what stays in your mind after meeting someone or seeing something. 给我留下印象 ('made an impression on me'). Sounds similar to 影响 but means something internal, not external impact.
响 alone means 'to make a sound; ring' (电话响了 — 'the phone rang'). 影响 is a different compound word.
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 影响 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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