Home › Learn Chinese Characters › All 300 characters › 爱

爱 ài — “to love”

How to write and say the Chinese character 爱 (ài), which means to love — with stroke order, audio, its story, and an example sentence. Theme: Think & feel.

Pinyin · 拼音 ài
Meaning · 意思 to love
Strokes · 笔画 10
Radical · 部首 爫 (claw)
Hear it · 听发音
Watch it drawn stroke by stroke →

Stroke order笔顺

爱 is written with 10 strokes, in this order (the red stroke is the one being added):

The story behind it字源小故事

Picture it: to bring a friend 友 into one's house 冖.

A common word常用词

我wǒ爱ài你nǐ

I love you

Example sentence例句

我wǒ爱ài爸bà爸ba妈mā妈ma。

I love Mum and Dad.

This page is part of the free Chinese character explorer from Casey Foundation Chinese School — a Saturday community Chinese school in Narre Warren, Victoria, serving Berwick, Cranbourne, Hallam and families across Melbourne's southeast. New students get a free trial lesson.