Chinese symbol for “ask”
请
qǐng
Traditional: 請
to ask; to invite; please (do sth); to treat (to a meal etc)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for ask is 请 (qǐng), defined as: to ask; to invite; please (do sth); to treat (to a meal etc); to request.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “ask”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 问 (問) | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 讯 (訊) | xùn | (bound form) to ask; to inquire; (bound form) to interrogate; to question |
| 索取 | suǒ qǔ | to ask; to demand |
| 请求 (請求) | qǐng qiú | to request; to ask; request (个 (gè)) |
| 要求 | yāo qiú | to request; to require |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 请.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 申请 (申請) | shēn qǐng | to apply for sth; application form (CL:份 (fèn)) |
| 邀请 (邀請) | yāo qǐng | to invite; invitation |
| 请求 (請求) | qǐng qiú | to request; to ask; request (个 (gè)) |
| 请问 (請問) | qǐng wèn | Excuse me, may I ask...? |
| 请愿 (請願) | qǐng yuàn | to petition |
| 聘请 (聘請) | pìn qǐng | to engage; to hire (a lawyer etc) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “ask”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.