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Basic Common Chinese Radicals

Radicals (bù shǒu) are common "components" used in Chinese characters. Rather than remembering all the strokes of a Chinese character, it's sometimes easier to remember the radicals, which are frequently used as components in Chinese characters. As you study Chinese, you will notice a repeating pattern of radicals being used.

The following table lists some commonly used basic radicals (parantheses denotes traditional character used in Hong Kong and Taiwan):

  Radical Meaning Pīnyīn Example
1 person rén you (nǐ)
2 road, walking chì street (jiē),  toward (wǎng)
3 water shuǐ river (hé),  wash (xǐ)
4 ice bīng ice (bīng),  freeze (dòng)
5 fire / burning huǒ lamp (dēng),  burn (shāo)
6 fire / fire from below huǒ steam (zhēng),  hot (rè)
7 day, sun, time time (shí),  sunny (qíng)
8 moon, month yuè tomorrow (míng),  clothes (fú)
9 门 (門) door mén room (jiān),  shut (bì)
10 female, woman good (hǎo),  mother (mā)
11 child child (hái),  grandchild (sūn)
12 hand shǒu push (tuī),  pull (lā)
13 讠(訁) word, language, speech yán say (shuō),  language (yǔ)
14 grass cǎo flower (huā),  vegetable (cài)
15 earth, soil ground (dì),  field (chǎng)
16 钅(釒) metal jīn silver (yín),  iron (tiě)
17 饣(飠) food, eat shí rice/meal (fàn),  drink (yǐn)
18 tree, wood forest (lín),  tree (shù)
19 bamboo zhú pen (bǐ),  simple (jiǎn)
20 foot kick (tī),  run (pǎo)
21 walk, action, period of time chuò / zouzhi enter (jìn),  far (yuǎn)
22 纟(糹) silk, thread, string 线 thread (xiàn),  silk (sī)
23 roof mián home/family (jiā),  room (shì)
24 mouth, opening kǒu sing (chàng),  and (hé)
25 boundary, enclosure wéi country (guó),  garden (yuán)
26 clothes skirt (qún),  shirt (shān)
27 sickness disease (bìng),  pain (tòng)
28 terrain, hill, city, town department/section (bù),  both (bōu)
29 factory, yard hàn hall (tīng),  factory (chǎng)
30 广 wide, shelter yǎn shop (diàn),  mansion (fǔ)
31 heart xīn want (xiǎng),  forget (wàng)
32 feeling, mental activities xīn emotion (qíng),  busy (máng)
33 strength, power, force help (zhù),  add (jiā)
34 车 (車) car, vehicle, cart chē car (chē),  rail/track (guǐ)
35 鱼 (魚) fish fresh (xiān),  abalone (bào)

If you have mastered these basic radicals, please try the more advanced radical list here


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