影响
to influence; influence; impact
HSK level
- Pinyin
- yǐngxiǎng
- Part of speech
- verb
- Level
- HSK 3
- Strokes
- 24
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 3
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 3 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.
这个位置不需要懂法律，但事实上，被选中的人往往会影响整个讨论的走向。
The position does not require any knowledge of law — but in practice, whoever is chosen tends to shape where the discussion goes.
A Jury Made Her Their Foreman Because "You Went to Law School" — She Had Only Played a Lawyer in Legally Blonde, and Never Finished College
爆炸声传到了几千公里外，火山灰飘到了很高的地方，之后一两年全球的天气都受到了影响。
The sound of the explosion carried thousands of kilometres, the ash drifted to great heights, and for a year or two afterwards weather around the world was affected.
Krakatoa's Child Woke Up at Midnight, Was Heard Seven Hundred Kilometres Away and Stranded 270,000 People — Without Killing a Single One
还有在上计算机课、以后要做这一行的大孩子，也不受影响。
And older students taking computing courses, who may go into the field, are unaffected.
New York Banned AI for 600,000 Schoolchildren — and the Loudest Critics Say It Didn't Go Far Enough
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.
FAQ
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 影响 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
You just saw 影响 in 3 episodes. Fluentide keeps feeding you news episodes at your level, so this word — and thousands like it — resurface in real sentences until they stick. Full pinyin and translation every time. Free to start.