How to Write 令 (lìng) — Meaning “to command; to cause; your (honorific)”

Imagine a person (人) standing on a podium giving a command through a megaphone (the bottom part like a mouth). This visual shows a leader issuing orders, matching the character's meaning.

Start with the top left-slanting stroke (人), then the right-falling stroke, then the dot, then the bottom horizontal stroke, and finish with the vertical hook. A common mistake is making the bottom part too wide or forgetting the dot above the horizontal line.

亼 (jí) is an ancient character meaning 'to gather' and looks like an inverted 口 without the bottom stroke, while 亾 (wáng) is an old form of 亡 meaning 'to die' with a different bottom shape. 令 has a clear dot and horizontal stroke below, giving it a distinct structure and meaning.

It appears in words like 命令 (command) and 令人 (causing one to feel). The honorific usage, such as 令尊 (your father), is polite but formal, often seen in written or respectful contexts.

Common words containing 令 include: 命令 (mìng lìng) — command; order; 令人 (lìng rén) — to make one (feel...); causing; 时令 (shí lìng) — season; seasonal.