尔 ěr you
you; that
How it came to be
The full form is a frame strung with threads and drawn full of them. The simple form is its outline, kept once the strings were dropped. Borrowed for the pronoun.
How it is used
- Bound and largely archaic "you/that"; in modern Chinese it mostly survives in fixed words and transliterations.
- 偶尔 (ǒu'ěr) = occasionally is the everyday word to know.
- It's a favorite transliteration syllable for foreign names/places: 尔 in 首尔 (Shǒu'ěr) Seoul, 尼泊尔 (Níbó'ěr) Nepal.
Characters built with 尔
Words with 尔
Example sentences
- 我们偶尔见面 Wǒmen ǒu'ěr jiànmiàn.We see each other once in a while.