How to Write 引 (yǐn) — Meaning “to lead, pull, or quote”

Imagine a bow (弓) with an arrow being drawn back — the small line on the right is the arrow being pulled. This visual of "pulling the bow" reminds you that 引 means to pull, lead, or even quote (as in drawing words from a source).

The left part 弓 has three strokes: a horizontal fold, a vertical hook, and a short horizontal line; the last stroke is a small upward hook. The right stroke is a simple vertical line with a slight curve, not too long — it should connect smoothly to the bow’s middle. A common mistake is making the right stroke too straight or disconnected from the bow.

弓 alone means "bow" and is a noun, while 引 adds a stroke to become a verb meaning to lead or pull. 弗 (fú) is an ancient negative adverb meaning "not" and has a different structure (two lines crossing through something) — it is unrelated in meaning and rarely used in modern Chinese compared to 引.

You often see 引 in words like 吸引 (attract, as in attracting attention), 引起 (cause, as in causing a problem), and 引用 (quote, as in citing a source in writing). It is common in both casual and formal contexts, such as news articles or academic papers.

Common words containing 引 include: 吸引 (xī yǐn) — to attract; 引起 (yǐn qǐ) — to cause or give rise to; 引用 (yǐn yòng) — to quote or cite.