yuàn
verb HSK 5 #1,093

Meanings

  1. 1 wish; desire
  2. 2 to be willing

Examples

Wǒ yuànyì bāng nǐ.
I'm willing to help you.
Zhù nǐ xīnxiǎngshìchéng!
May all your wishes come true!
Zhìyuànzhě bāng le hěnduō máng.
The volunteers helped a lot.

Tips

usage
is used in: 愿意 (willing), 志愿 (aspiration/volunteer), 心愿 (wish), 自愿 (voluntary), 许愿 (to make a wish). 愿意 is essential - it's used in Chinese wedding vows (愿意?).

Components

radical
xīn
heart; mind
Bottom radical in its full four-stroke form anchors as a mental/emotional state - the wish or vow that wells up from the heart. The heart radical groups with kindred mind-verbs like (think), (long for), 怀 (cherish), (gratitude) - all emotions surfacing from inside.
phonetic
yuán
source; original
Top-left phonetic supplies the sound - yuán shifted to yuàn through tone-change only. itself depicts a spring emerging from a cliff , the "source" of water. As phonetic in , it gives the same vowel and consonant; same series produces (yuán, source) and simply adds to specify the heart-source: a heartfelt wish.

Stroke Order

yuàn