How to Write 仍 (réng) — Meaning “Still; yet.”

Imagine a person (亻) who is still (仍) holding onto a rope shaped like the right side 乃. The shape of 乃 looks like a bent wire or a hook, so picture the person clinging to that hook, refusing to let go—meaning they are still there.

The left radical 亻 should be narrow and tall, with the vertical stroke starting just below the first slash. The right part 乃 must be written with the horizontal stroke first, then the left-slanting stroke, and finally the hook; a common mistake is making the hook too small or forgetting to connect it to the left stroke.

仍 (réng, "still") differs from 亿 (yì, "one hundred million") which has 乙 on the right, and 什 (shén, "what" or "ten") which has 十 on the right. Visual difference: 仍 uses 乃 (a bent hook), 亿 uses 乙 (a zigzag), and 什 uses 十 (a cross). Meaning-wise, 仍 is an adverb, while 亿 is a number and 什 is used in question words.

仍 is mostly used in formal or written contexts, often in expressions like 仍然 and 仍旧, both meaning "still" or "as before." For example, 他仍在工作 (He is still working). It is less common in casual speech, where people might use 还 or 还是 instead. Culturally, 仍 carries a tone of persistence or unchanged state.

Common words containing 仍 include: 仍然 (réng rán) — Still; yet.; 仍旧 (réng jiù) — Still; as before.; 仍需 (réng xū) — Still need..