呵欠

hēqiàn
noun #35,453

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 yawn

Examples

HSK 2
Tīngkè tīngdào yībàn, wǒ dǎ le gè chángchángde hēqiàn.
Halfway through the lecture, I let out a long yawn.
HSK 3
Tā kùn de zhí dǎ hēqiàn.
He was so sleepy he kept yawning.

Tips

usage
Always paired with (to hit / make): 呵欠 = 'to yawn'. Variant 哈欠 is more common in northern speech and dictionaries; 呵欠 is the older listed form. Both 哈欠 and 呵欠 are correct.
memory
alone originally meant 'to yawn' - its oracle-bone form pictures a person with mouth open, exhaling. The modern noun adds (the breath sound) to make it explicit.

Stroke Order

qiàn