冷
cold
HSK level
- Pinyin
- lěng
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 7
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 1
Stroke order for 冷
冷 is written with 7 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
What does 冷 mean?
冷 (lěng) is the basic adjective for 'cold' — used for weather, rooms, food, drinks, and even, metaphorically, for people.
Unlike English 'cold,' Chinese adjectives don't take 'is' before them: '今天很冷' (lit. 'today very cold') is a complete sentence — no 是 needed. With body sensation, you usually pair it with the pronoun: 我很冷 = 'I'm cold.'
冷 also extends to non-temperature uses: 冷笑 ('cold laugh' = sneer), 冷静 ('cool-headed; calm'), 冷场 ('awkward silence'). For food/drinks that are deliberately served cold, Chinese often prefers 凉 (liáng) — 凉水 ('cool water'), 凉菜 ('cold dish') — because 冷 can imply 'unpleasantly cold' or 'gone cold,' while 凉 is neutrally 'cool.' Knowing 冷 vs 凉 is the main thing that separates beginner English speakers from intermediate ones on this concept.
Memory hook: Two ice-dots (冫) on the left = ice = 冷, cold.
Hear 冷 in real episodes
冷 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode 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.
天气冷的时候，帝王蝶都在墨西哥。
When the weather is cold, the monarchs are all in Mexico.
No Monarch Butterfly Ever Finishes Its Own Migration — the Trip Takes Four Generations
Example sentences
今天很冷。
Jīntiān hěn lěng.
It's cold today.
spoken
我有点冷。
Wǒ yǒudiǎn lěng.
I'm a bit cold.
spoken
请喝热水，不要喝冷水。
Qǐng hē rè shuǐ, búyào hē lěng shuǐ.
Please drink hot water, not cold water.
neutral
北京的冬天很冷。
Běijīng de dōngtiān hěn lěng.
Winters in Beijing are very cold.
neutral
Common phrases with 冷
Synonyms
凉 is 'cool' — pleasantly cool or mildly cool, not bone-chilling. Use 凉 for cool breezes, cool drinks (凉水), or food meant to be eaten cold. Use 冷 for winter weather or things that are unpleasantly cold.
寒 means 'cold' too but is literary/written, mostly appearing in compounds (寒冷, 寒假 = 'winter vacation'). For spoken sentences about cold weather, always use 冷.
Don't confuse 冷 with
冰 is the noun/adjective 'ice' or 'icy.' 冰水 ('iced water') is colder than 冷水 ('cold water'). 冷 describes temperature; 冰 implies actual ice.
凉 is 'cool / mildly cold' (often desirable). 冷 is 'cold' (often a complaint). Iced drinks: 凉的. Snowy weather: 冷.
FAQ
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