important
HSK level
重要 is written with 18 strokes (重: 9, 要: 9). The animation replays automatically.
重要 (zhòngyào) is the standard adjective for 'important,' 'significant,' or 'crucial.'
Use it for people, events, decisions, documents — anything that carries weight or consequence: 重要的人 ('important person'), 重要的事 ('important matter'), 这很重要 ('this is very important'). Two notes for learners. First, like most Chinese adjectives, 重要 takes 很 in front when used predicatively: 这很重要 ('this is important'), not 这是重要 — the 是 form sounds wrong unless you add 的: 这是重要的.
Second, the character 重 alone can mean either 'heavy' (zhòng) or 'to repeat' (chóng); in 重要 it's the 'heavy/weighty' meaning that carries the sense of importance — literally 'heavy and essential.' For 'serious/grave' (an illness, an incident), use 严重 (yánzhòng) instead.
Character by character
Memory hook: 重 (heavy) + 要 (essential) — 'heavy and essential.' Important things have weight.
重要 appears in 7 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
这件事很重要。
Zhè jiàn shì hěn zhòngyào.
This matter is very important.
neutral
家人比工作更重要。
Jiārén bǐ gōngzuò gèng zhòngyào.
Family is more important than work.
spoken
他是公司里最重要的人。
Tā shì gōngsī lǐ zuì zhòngyào de rén.
He is the most important person in the company.
neutral
我有一个重要的会议。
Wǒ yǒu yí ge zhòngyào de huìyì.
I have an important meeting.
neutral
健康比什么都重要。
Jiànkāng bǐ shénme dōu zhòngyào.
Health is more important than anything.
spoken
要紧 means 'important' but often with urgency, especially in negative questions: 不要紧 ('it doesn't matter / no big deal'). 重要 is the neutral 'important'; 要紧 carries 'pressing/urgent.'
严重 means 'serious/grave' for problems, illnesses, or situations with negative consequences. 重要 means 'important' (carrying weight, mattering). A 严重 problem is bad; a 重要 problem matters.
主要 means 'main/primary,' picking out the chief one. 重要 means 'important,' assigning weight. The 主要 actor is the lead; an 重要 actor is a significant figure.
重 alone means 'heavy' (zhòng) or 'again/repeat' (chóng). 重要 is the compound 'important.' Don't use 重 alone to mean 'important.'
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