How to Write 营 (yíng) — Meaning “camp; to operate; to run”

Imagine grass (艹) growing on top of a tent (冖), and inside the tent two friends (吕, like two mouths) are talking about "nutrition" (营养) and "camping" (露营). This connects the shape to the common words you need to learn. Think: "Grass-roof tent with two people chatting - that's a camp (营)."

Start with the top 艹: write horizontal, then two verticals, then another horizontal for the bottom line of the grass. Next, the middle 冖 is a dot followed by a horizontal hook. Finally, the bottom 吕 is written as two stacked 口 shapes: for each 口, do left vertical, top horizontal, right vertical, bottom horizontal (taking care that the second 口's top horizontal does not touch the first 口's bottom). A common mistake is to connect the two mouths too loosely or to make the bottom part too wide.

Common words containing 营 include: 经营 (jīng yíng) — To manage or operate a business.; 露营 (lù yíng) — Camping; 营养 (yíng yǎng) — nutrition; nourishment.