How to Write 拎 (līn) — Meaning “To carry / To lift (with one hand)”

Imagine your hand (扌) making a "ling" sound as you quickly grab a heavy bag handle. The right side 令 looks like a person bending down to pick up items. Picture your hand holding a bag with a strap that looks like the top part of 令.

The stroke order is left radical first: 扌 (horizontal, vertical hook, lift), then the right side 令 (person radical: left stroke, right stroke, then dot below). A common mistake is to make the right side too wide or to forget the dot at the bottom. Keep the right side compact and aligned with the hand radical.

托 (tuō) means "to support with the palm" or "to entrust," while 拎 specifically means lifting with a hand grip, like a bag handle. Visually, 托 has 毛 (a hand) plus 乇, whereas 拎 has 扌 plus 令. 㧜 is a rare character with a different meaning and is not commonly used, whereas 拎 is frequent in daily life.

You often hear 拎 when someone is carrying a bag, groceries, or other items by hand with a handle, like 拎包 (carry a bag). It implies a quick, casual lifting motion—not a heavy load. In daily conversation, people say 你帮我拎一下 (Can you help me carry this for a moment?), showing its common use in simple requests.

Common words containing 拎 include: 拎包 (līn bāo) — To carry a bag; 拎着 (līn zhe) — Carrying / Holding; 拎东西 (līn dōng xī) — To carry things.