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乃

nǎi
#1,163 most
frequent character
so, therefore
conjunction
adverb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

乃 is a picture of a breast, so it first meant 'breast.' Later it was borrowed for its sound to mean 'to be', then grew to 'thus, so; therefore' and 'thereupon; only.'

Drawn as: breast

乃 as a component in other characters

meaning1 character
奶
sound7 characters
仍奶扔氖艿鼐尕
picture1 character
隽
empty2 characters
秀孕

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Example Sentences

他非常努力,乃至获得了奖学金。
tā fēicháng nǔlì , nǎizhì huòdé le jiǎngxuéjīn 。
He worked very hard, so he received a scholarship.
天气很冷,乃我们决定待在家里。
tiānqì hěn lěng , nǎi wǒmen juédìng dàizàijiālǐ 。
The weather is very cold, so we decided to stay home.
她的表现很好,乃学校的骄傲。
tāde biǎoxiàn hěnhǎo , nǎi xuéxiào de jiāoào 。
Her performance was excellent, therefore she is the pride of the school.

Same Characters, Different Readings

乃nǎi
so, therefore

Words with similar meanings

因此yīncǐ
therefore
A formal way to express 'therefore', commonly used in written contexts.
所以suǒyǐ
so
A more colloquial expression that is frequently used in everyday conversation.

Homophones

奶nǎi
milk

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