to be like; to resemble
HSK level
像 is written with 13 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
像 (xiàng) is the verb 'to be like / to resemble / to look like.'
Sentence pattern: A 像 B = 'A is like / resembles B.' 你像你妈妈 = 'You look like your mom.' Often paired with 一样 (yíyàng, 'the same') for emphasis: A 像 B 一样 + adjective = 'A is as ADJ as B' or 'A is like B in that way.' 他像孩子一样高兴 = 'He's happy like a child.'
Also used to introduce examples, equivalent to English 'such as' or 'like': 像苹果、香蕉这样的水果 = 'fruits like apples and bananas.' As a noun, 像 means 'image / portrait / statue' (画像 portrait, 雕像 statue, 录像 video recording). Two cautions: don't confuse with the near-homophone 向 (xiàng, 'toward'); and the formal/written equivalent for resemblance comparisons is 如同 or 好像 (hǎoxiàng, 'seems like').
像 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
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Nǐ zhǎng de hěn xiàng nǐ māma.
You look a lot like your mom.
spoken
他像孩子一样高兴。
Tā xiàng háizi yíyàng gāoxìng.
He's happy like a child.
neutral
今天好像要下雨。
Jīntiān hǎoxiàng yào xià yǔ.
It looks like it's going to rain today.
spoken
我喜欢吃水果，像苹果、香蕉。
Wǒ xǐhuan chī shuǐguǒ, xiàng píngguǒ, xiāngjiāo.
I like eating fruit, like apples and bananas.
spoken
这个孩子一点儿都不像他爸爸。
Zhège háizi yìdiǎnr dōu bú xiàng tā bàba.
This child doesn't look like his dad at all.
spoken
好像 means 'seems like / as if' — softer, often signaling uncertainty. 他好像生病了 = 'He seems sick.' 像 alone is a direct resemblance: 他像他爸爸 = 'He looks like his dad.' 好像 adds 'apparently / it seems.'
如 is the literary/written equivalent — 'like / as.' Found in formal writing and set phrases (如同, 例如). In conversation, use 像.
向 (xiàng) means 'toward / facing' — a direction word. Same pinyin as 像 but completely different meaning. 向前走 = 'walk forward'; 像我 = 'like me.'
象 alone means 'elephant' or 'image' (现象 = phenomenon). 像 is the verb 'to resemble.' Note: in some traditional uses 象 and 像 overlap, but in modern simplified Chinese, 像 = resemble, 象 = elephant/phenomenon.
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