眼睛

• Pinyin: yǎn jing
• Hanzi breakdown: 眼 = 目 (eye) + 艮 (phonetic); 睛 = 目 (eye) + 青 (blue-green) — the clear part of the eye

Meaning

Eye or eyes. The standard everyday word for the organ of sight.

This is the most common way to refer to eyes in daily conversation, more natural than using 眼 alone. The measure word for eyes is 只 (zhī) since they come in pairs. Common phrases include 大眼睛 (dà yǎnjing, big eyes) and 闭上眼睛 (bì shàng yǎnjing, close your eyes). Note that 眼镜 (yǎnjìng, glasses) sounds similar but has a different second character and tone.

Examples

1. 她的眼睛很大很好看。 Her eyes are big and beautiful.
2. 看书看太久了，眼睛很累。 My eyes are tired from reading for too long.
3. 请闭上你的眼睛。 Please close your eyes.

Usage Guide

Context: body parts, appearance

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 你的眼睛怎么了？(What's wrong with your eyes?)
• 他的眼睛是黑色的。(His eyes are black.)

Don't Say

• 我的眼睛们很累 (Chinese nouns do not take 们 unless referring to people — 眼睛 already covers singular and plural)

Origin & History

A compound of 眼 (yǎn, eye) and 睛 (jīng, eyeball/pupil). The character 睛 combines 目 (mù, eye) with 青 (qīng, blue-green), possibly referring to the clear, bright quality of the pupil.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal