100 Most Common Chinese Radicals with Meanings & Examples

Chinese characters look intimidating until you learn their secret: almost every character is built from a small set of repeating parts called radicals (部首 bùshǒu). A radical is the component a dictionary files a character under, and most of them also tell you something about the character's meaning — every character with 氵has to do with water, everything with 木 has to do with trees and wood. Learn the radicals and thousands of characters stop being random strokes and start making sense.

Below are the 100 most common Chinese radicals, grouped by stroke count the way a radical dictionary lists them. Each one shows its pinyin name, meaning, an example character that uses it, a button to hear it, and — tap the radical itself — a stroke-order animation.

How to use this list: Tap any radical character to watch it drawn stroke by stroke, and tap the speaker to hear it read aloud. Radicals marked ★ core are the highest-frequency ones — learn these first.
Ready to test yourself? Try the Character Radical Quiz to spot the radical inside each character, or drill full characters with stroke animations on the Stroke Order Animator.

Radicals — 1–2 Strokes

# Radical Written as Pinyin Meaning Example Listen
1 一 — yī One; horizontal line 三 three
2 丨 — gǔn Vertical line 中 middle
3 丶 — zhǔ Dot 主 host, main
4 丿 — piě Left-falling slash 九 nine
5 乙 乚 yǐ Second; twist 也 also
6 二 — èr Two 五 five
7 亠 — tóu Lid; top 京 capital
8 人 ★ 亻 rén Person 你 you
9 儿 — ér Legs; son 先 first
10 入 — rù Enter 内 inside
11 八 丷 bā Eight; divide 分 divide
12 冂 — jiōng Down box; borders 同 same
13 冖 — mì Cover cloth 写 write
14 冫 ★ — bīng Ice (two-drop water) 冷 cold
15 几 — jī Small table 凡 ordinary
16 刀 ★ 刂 dāo Knife 别 don't; other
17 力 ★ — lì Strength; power 加 add
18 勹 — bāo Wrap 包 wrap, bag
19 匕 — bǐ Spoon; ladle 北 north
20 十 — shí Ten 华 China; splendid
21 卜 — bǔ Divination 占 occupy; divine
22 卩 — jié Seal (kneeling person) 印 print, seal
23 厂 — hǎn Cliff; shelter 厅 hall
24 厶 — sī Private; cocoon 去 go
25 又 ★ — yòu Again; right hand 友 friend

Radicals — 3 Strokes

# Radical Written as Pinyin Meaning Example Listen
26 口 ★ — kǒu Mouth; opening 叫 to call
27 囗 ★ — wéi Enclosure 国 country
28 土 ★ — tǔ Earth; soil 地 ground
29 士 — shì Scholar; warrior 声 sound, voice
30 夂 — zhǐ Go; follow 冬 winter
31 夕 — xī Evening; dusk 外 outside
32 大 ★ — dà Big; great 天 sky, day
33 女 ★ — nǚ Woman; female 好 good
34 子 ★ — zǐ Child; son 学 study
35 宀 ★ — mián Roof (of a house) 家 home, family
36 寸 — cùn Inch; a little 对 correct
37 小 ★ ⺌ xiǎo Small; little 少 few
38 尢 尣 wāng Lame; weak 就 then; at once
39 尸 — shī Corpse; body 屋 room, house
40 山 ★ — shān Mountain; hill 岛 island
41 川 巛 chuān River; stream 州 prefecture
42 工 — gōng Work; labor 左 left
43 己 — jǐ Self; oneself 巷 lane, alley
44 巾 ★ — jīn Cloth; towel 帮 to help
45 干 — gān Dry; shield 平 flat, level
46 幺 — yāo Tiny; short thread 幼 young
47 广 ★ — guǎng Broad shelter; roof 床 bed
48 廴 — yǐn Long stride 建 to build
49 廾 — gǒng Two hands; clasp 开 to open
50 弋 — yì Shoot with a bow 式 style, type
51 弓 — gōng Bow (weapon) 张 sheet; to open
52 彐 彑 jì Pig's snout 录 to record
53 彡 — shān Bristle; hair; rays 影 shadow
54 彳 ★ — chì Step; walk (left half of 行) 很 very
55 辶 ★ 辵 chuò Walk; movement (走之) 这 this
56 阝 邑 yì City; town (right ear) 都 all; capital
57 阝 阜 fù Mound; hill (left ear) 院 courtyard
58 犭 ★ 犬 quǎn Dog; animal 猫 cat
59 饣 ★ 食 shí Eat; food 饭 cooked rice, meal
60 忄 ★ 心 xīn Heart (side form) 情 feeling
61 扌 ★ 手 shǒu Hand (side form) 打 to hit
62 氵 ★ 水 shuǐ Water (three drops) 河 river
63 艹 ★ 艸 cǎo Grass; plant 花 flower
64 夂 — suī Go slowly; trail 复 return; again
65 纟 ★ 糸 sī Silk; thread 红 red
66 讠 ★ 言 yán Speech; words 说 to speak

Radicals — 4 Strokes

# Radical Written as Pinyin Meaning Example Listen
67 心 ★ — xīn Heart; mind 想 to think
68 戈 — gē Halberd; spear 我 I, me
69 户 戶 hù Door; household 房 room, house
70 手 ★ — shǒu Hand 拿 to hold
71 攴 攵 pū Tap; rap; script (folded hand) 教 to teach
72 文 — wén Script; writing; culture 斑 spot, speckle
73 斤 — jīn Axe; a catty (weight) 新 new
74 方 — fāng Square; direction 旁 side
75 日 ★ — rì Sun; day 明 bright
76 曰 — yuē To say; speak 书 book
77 月 ★ — yuè Moon; (also 肉 flesh) 有 to have
78 木 ★ — mù Tree; wood 林 forest
79 欠 — qiàn Yawn; owe; lack 歌 song
80 止 — zhǐ Stop; foot 正 upright, correct
81 歹 — dǎi Death; bad 死 to die
82 毛 — máo Fur; hair; feather 毫 fine hair; a bit
83 气 — qì Air; steam; breath 氧 oxygen
84 水 — shuǐ Water 泉 spring, fountain
85 火 ★ 灬 huǒ Fire 烧 to burn
86 爪 爫 zhǎo Claw; talon 爬 to climb
87 父 — fù Father 爸 dad
88 牛 牜 niú Cow; ox 物 thing
89 犬 — quǎn Dog 哭 to cry
90 王 ★ 玉 wáng Jade; king 球 ball
91 见 見 jiàn To see 观 to observe
92 贝 ★ 貝 bèi Shell; money; wealth 财 wealth
93 车 車 chē Cart; vehicle 轮 wheel
94 钅 ★ 金 jīn Metal; gold 银 silver

Radicals — 5+ Strokes

# Radical Written as Pinyin Meaning Example Listen
95 田 ★ — tián Field; farmland 男 man
96 目 ★ — mù Eye 看 to look
97 石 ★ — shí Stone; rock 码 code; yard
98 示 礻 shì Altar; spirit; ritual 神 god, spirit
99 禾 ★ — hé Grain; growing rice 秋 autumn
100 竹 ★ ⺮ zhú Bamboo 笑 to laugh
See radicals at work: Paste any Chinese sentence into our free Pinyin Translator for a word-by-word breakdown, watch full characters being written on the Stroke Order Animator, or read how characters were built in Chinese Character Etymology.

Why Radicals Are the Fastest Way In

Roughly 80–90% of Chinese characters are phono-semantic compounds: one part (the radical) hints at the meaning, and another part hints at the sound. Take 妈 (mā, mom) — the radical 女 (woman) tells you the meaning category, while 马 (mǎ, horse) supplies the pronunciation. Once you recognize the common radicals, a brand-new character is no longer a wall of strokes; it is a meaning clue plus a sound clue you can often guess.

Radicals also make characters lookup-able. Every paper dictionary and most apps let you find an unknown character by its radical and remaining stroke count — impossible if you can't spot the radical. And because radicals follow consistent stroke-order rules, knowing them tidies up your own handwriting too. A practical plan: memorize the ★ core radicals first, notice them inside every new character you meet, then fill in the rest over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

A radical (部首 bùshǒu) is a recurring component of a Chinese character that dictionaries use to index it. Most radicals also hint at meaning: the water radical 氵appears in 河 (river), 海 (sea), and 湖 (lake). Learning radicals turns thousands of characters from random strokes into recognizable, meaningful combinations.

The traditional Kangxi Dictionary defines 214 radicals, and modern simplified dictionaries use a similar list of about 200. You don't need all of them: roughly 100 radicals cover the vast majority of everyday characters, and about 50 of those are extremely common. This list gives you the 100 most useful ones.

Every radical is a component, but not every component is a radical. A character can be built from several components; the radical is the single one chosen to file it under in a dictionary — usually the part that carries meaning. In 妈 (mā, mom), 女 (woman) is the radical and 马 (mǎ, horse) is a phonetic component giving the sound. Practice spotting them on the Character Radical Quiz.

Many radicals have a compressed combining form used when they sit on the left or top of a character. 人 (person) becomes 亻, 水 (water) becomes 氵, 手 (hand) becomes 扌, and 心 (heart) becomes 忄. The meaning stays the same — only the shape is squeezed to fit. The “Written as” column above shows these forms.

Learn the most common radicals alongside your first characters, not in a separate block beforehand. Once you know that 氵means water and 木 means tree, new characters start making sense on sight, your stroke order improves, and you can look up unknown characters by their radical. Drill high-frequency characters on our HSK Flashcards.

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