Understanding Radicals

Radicals (部首) are key building blocks of Chinese characters. They often tell you something about the meaning or category of a character.

What Radicals Do

Many characters consist of:

Examples of common radicals:

氵water radical ➜ wash, ocean, river
扌hand radical ➜ hit, clap, push
女female radical ➜ mom, sister, younger sister
口mouth radical ➜ tell, drink, eat
亻person radical ➜ stand, rest, act
讠speech radical ➜ say, speak, language

Learn about 50 common radicals and reading gets much easier.

Where to Go Next

Try entering characters that share the same radical into the interactive practice tool and see how they are written.