情

qíng
noun #796

Meanings

  1. 1 feeling; emotion
  2. 2 situation; love

Examples

HSK 4
Xīnqíng hěn hǎo.
I'm in a good mood.
HSK 4
Qíngkuàng zěnmeyàng?
How's the situation?
HSK 4
Àiqíng shì měihǎo de.
Love is beautiful.

Tips

usage
情 is one of the most important characters: 心情 (mood), 感情 (feelings), 爱情 (romantic love), 情况 (situation), 事情 (matter/thing), 友情 (friendship), 热情 (warm/enthusiastic).

Components

radical
忄 xīn
heart (left-side radical form of 心)
Left 忄 is the heart radical in its left-side form - 心 squashed vertical with central stroke and two drop-marks for the chambers. Anchors 情 in the emotion family. The original sense was 'authentic feeling from the heart', from which came love, sentiment, and the social bonds we feel. Same family: 怕 fear, 怀 harbor, 慢 slow-hearted, 快 quick-hearted.
phonetic
青 qīng
blue-green; pure (phonetic + semantic)
Right 青 supplies the sound - qīng drifting to qíng (only tone shifts). Same phonetic family: 清 qīng clear, 请 qǐng to request, 晴 qíng sunny, 静 jìng quiet. 青 itself originally meant the blue-green of fresh growth, carrying connotations of purity and clarity. So 情 reads as 'pure feeling from the heart' - phonetic with a strong semantic boost.

Stroke Order

情 qíng