ruǎn
soft
Practice writing with stroke order guidance, audio pronunciation, and interactive exercises in our mobile app.
Step-by-step stroke order animations
Native speaker audio pronunciation
Interactive writing recognition
这个沙发很软。
Zhège shāfā hěn ruǎn.
This sofa is very soft.
我喜欢吃软糖。
Wǒ xǐhuān chī ruǎntáng.
I like to eat soft candy.
他说话的声音很软。
Tā shuōhuà de shēngyīn hěn ruǎn.
His voice is very soft.
柔 (róu)
soft, gentle
弱 (ruò)
weak, feeble
硬 (yìng)
hard
坚硬 (jiānyìng)
firm
The Chinese character 软 (ruǎn) for "soft" is composed of two parts: the radical 糸 (mì) and the phonetic component 弱 (ruò). The radical 糸 originally meant "silk" and is often used in characters related to textiles, while the phonetic component 弱 means "weak" or "feeble". Together, these two components create the character 软, which combines the idea of something being weak or pliable with the softness of silk. This character is often used to describe things that are physically soft or flexible, such as a soft pillow or a soft breeze, but can also be used in a more abstract sense to describe things that are gentle or mild, such as a soft voice or a soft heart.
