向

xiàng
HSK 3
#146 most
frequent character
direction, orientation, to face
preposition
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

向 shows a mouth 口 crying inside a room, making an echo. That was the first sense, and it grew to 'echo, reverberation', now written 响. The sense 'north-facing window' was borrowed for sound; later came 'to face', 'toward', and 'direction'.

Drawn as: mouth crying in room; building; mouth

向 as a component in other characters

sound4 characters
响晌饷垧

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Example Sentences

我向西走。
wǒ xiàngxī zǒu 。
I walk towards the west.
他向我解释这个问题。
tā xiàng wǒ jiěshì zhègè wèntí 。
He explained this problem to me.
他们向你求助。
tāmen xiàng nǐ qiúzhù 。
They seek help from you.

Grammar Points

HSK 3
Expressing "towards" with "xiang"
HSK 5
Comparing "chao" "xiang" and "wang"

Words with similar meanings

趋向qūxiàng
to tend towards
More formal, implies a tendency or direction towards something.
转向zhuǎnxiàng
to turn towards
Indicates a more specific action of turning or orienting in a direction.

Homophones

HSK 5
像xiàng
(look) like, similar (to), appearance
HSK 6
项xiàng
neck, sum, funds
HSK 6
巷xiàng
lane, alley
相xiàng
appearance, portrait, picture
象xiàng
elephant, shape, form, appearance

Words Starting With 向

向导xiàng dǎo
guide
向往xiàng wǎng
to yearn for; to look forward to
向来xiàng lái
always; all along

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Public Lists with 向

HSK 3
All words for the HSK 3 test
Directions & Navigation
Turn left, go straight, map, GPS, route, and related travel instructions.
Directions & Location
Above, below, left, right, inside, outside, near, far, north, south, etc.
Basic Verbs
Core action verbs like 'go,' 'come,' 'eat,' 'see,' commonly encountered in HSK.