ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

every / each

měi
7 strokes · 母 (mother) with a sprout on top — every mother, generation after generation · HSK 2

Where 每 comes from

每 grew from 母 (mother) with a hairpin or sprout added on top — a picture of a grown woman. How 'mother' became 'every' is debated; the likeliest path is through generations: every mother has a mother, unbroken repetition.

每 in Chinese culture

每 is the rhythm word: 每天 (every day — the word this very app lives by), 每年 (every year), 每个人 (everyone). Paired with 都 it locks in universality: 每个人都知道 ('every person all knows' — Chinese doubles down on 'every…all'). Your daily character habit is a 每天 practice — the character itself is your streak.

Example

每天 měitiān — every day

我每天学一个汉字。
Wǒ měitiān xué yí ge hànzì.
I study one Chinese character every day.

How to remember it

Mother 母 crowned with a sprout — generation after generation: EVERY.

每 grammar quirk: 每…都… ('every…all…') — Chinese insists on saying both, and dropping the 都 sounds oddly incomplete.

Same sound, different tones

2nd méi
not have
3rd měi
every
4th mèi
younger sister

Words unlocked by 每

每天 měitiān
every day
每年 měinián
every year
每个人 měi ge rén
everyone
LEARN 每 WITH STROKE-BY-STROKE WRITING → DOWNLOAD ZHIZHI
One character a morning · 169-character HSK library · iOS