The step; walk (left half of 行) radical — 彳 (chì)

The left half of 行 (to go) — a crossroads. On the left of a character it means motion or conduct: 很 (very, originally to follow), 往 (toward), 街 (street), 德 (virtue), 律 (law).

3 strokes 9 example characters High-frequency

At a glance

Radical
Pinyin
chì
Meaning
Step; walk (left half of 行)
Strokes
3 (3 strokes section)

Stroke order

Characters built on

Every character below contains . Meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the translator, so you can look any of them up in full there.

hěn
Very
dé / děi / de
Get; Have to (need)
wǎng / wàng
Towards (to go - past - previous); Bound for
xíng / háng
Walk (go - will do - capable); Row (trade - profession - firm)
jiē
Street
Morality (kindness)
Law
wēi
Micro (tiny - miniature)
zhēng
Military campaign (conscript - levy tax - solicit - journey)

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— frequently asked questions

What does the Chinese radical 彳 mean?

彳 is pronounced chì and means "step; walk (left half of 行)". It is written in 3 strokes. The left half of 行 (to go) — a crossroads. On the left of a character it means motion or conduct: 很 (very, originally to follow), 往 (toward), 街 (street), 德 (virtue), 律 (law).

Which characters use the 彳 radical?

Common examples include 很 (hěn, Very), 得 (dé / děi / de, Get; Have to (need)), 往 (wǎng / wàng, Towards (to go - past - previous); Bound for), 行 (xíng / háng, Walk (go - will do - capable); Row (trade - profession - firm)). This page lists 9 of them with pinyin, meanings and audio.

How many strokes does 彳 have?

3. Radical dictionaries file it in the 3 strokes section, which is how you look up an unfamiliar character when you cannot guess its pronunciation.

Other 3-stroke radicals

Keep going

Watch any of these characters being written in the Stroke Order Animator, practise them on printable 田字格 sheets, hunt radicals against the clock in Radical Hunt, or read the background in The 100 Most Common Chinese Radicals and Chinese Character Etymology.