How to Write 娜 (nà/nuó) — Meaning “graceful”

Imagine a woman (女) saying 'Nah' (那) with a graceful shrug — relaxed and elegant. Or think of the name Anna (安娜) where 娜 appears, and picture a graceful dancer named Anna.

Write the left radical 女 narrow with three strokes: diagonal, left-falling, horizontal. Then the right 那 with seven strokes: horizontal-hook, horizontal, horizontal, left-falling, horizontal-hook, vertical, vertical-hook. A common mistake is making the left part too wide or misplacing the horizontal strokes on the right.

娜 has the right component 那 (nà), used phonetically, while 妊 uses 壬 (rén) and means 'pregnant', and 妍 uses 开 (kāi) meaning 'beautiful'. Visually, 娜 has a more complex right side with a hooked stroke, unlike the simpler right parts of 妊 and 妍.

娜 is not in HSK but appears in foreign name transliterations like 安娜 (Anna) and in literary words like 婀娜 (ē nuó, graceful) describing elegant posture. It carries a positive, refined connotation and is often used for female names or poetic descriptions.

Common words containing 娜 include: 安娜 (ān nà) — Anna; 袅娜 (niǎo nuó) — Slender and graceful; 婀娜 (ē nuó) — graceful; lithe; supple.