燕 yàn
- Strokes
- 16
- Radical
- 灬 — fire
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
燕子
yànzi
swallow; house martin
Characters in this word
子 zi
- Strokes
- 3
- Radical
- 子 — son, child
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
Example phrases
- 老屋檐下的燕子每年春天都会回来，像是记得这条巷子的气味。 Lǎo wūyán xià de yànzi měi nián chūntiān dōu huì huílái, xiàng shì jìde zhè tiáo xiàngzi de qìwèi. The swallows under the old eaves return every spring, as if they remember the smell of this lane.
- 屋檐下有一窝燕子，雏鸟正等着妈妈喂食。 Wūyán xià yǒu yī wō yànzi, chúniǎo zhèng děngzhe māma wèi shí. Under the eaves there is a nest of swallows; the chicks are waiting for their mother to feed them.
- 燕子低飞的时候，通常说明快要下雨了。 Yànzi dī fēi de shíhou, tōngcháng shuōmíng kuài yào xiàyǔ le. When swallows fly low, it usually means rain is coming soon.