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Choosing Mnemonics

Pick the mnemonic story that sticks best for you by clicking its ☆ — there's no wrong choice, and you'll be able to write your own soon. Then press Continue.

yān = y + an1
Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in modern Hebei and Liaoning / north Hebei / the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Yan 前燕[Qian2 Yan1] (337-370), Later Yan 後燕|后燕[Hou4 Yan1] (384-409), Southern Yan 南燕[Nan2 Yan1] (398-410), Northern Yan 北燕[Bei3 Yan1] (409-436) / surname Yan
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yàn = y + an4
swallow (family Hirundinidae) / old variant of 宴[yan4]
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yàn = y + an4
variant of 燕[yan4]
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How to pronounce 燕

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= y initial

Y is for Maud Younger.

By Matthias • updated about 2 months ago
+ an1 final

In front of the anthill.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago
= y initial

Y is for Maud Younger.

By Matthias • updated about 2 months ago
+ an4 final

In the anthill’s bathroom.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago

燕 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
běi = b + ei3
north / (classical) to be defeated
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kǒu = k + ou3
mouth / classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc) / classifier for bites or mouthfuls
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廿
niàn = ni + an4
twenty (20), in a limited number of set expressions / also written using banker's character 念
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huǒ = hu + o3
"fire" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 86), occurring in 熙, 然, 熊 etc
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Characters with 燕 as component

yàn = y + an4
variant of 宴[yan4]
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yān = y + an1
variant of 胭[yan1]
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yàn = y + an4
variant of 燕[yan4], swallow
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Words with 燕

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(bird species of China) black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda)

Sentences with 燕

燕 currently does not appear in any sentence.

Want to remember 燕 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

yān / yàn

3 translations

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