{"id":176481850,"date":"2017-09-28T14:36:21","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T21:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog-new\/?p=176481850"},"modified":"2025-05-19T11:28:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T18:28:52","slug":"chinese-radicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/chinese-radicals\/","title":{"rendered":"Break it Down: Chinese Radicals for Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chinese is a language that has no alphabet, which can be daunting for the Chinese learner. Instead there are characters, over 50,000 of them. However, if you want to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/04\/how-to-read-chinese\/\">learn how to read Chinese<\/a>, you would only need to know about 2-3,000 characters in order to be able to read a newspaper, but t<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hat still leaves you with an awful lot of learning to do. Luckily, the writing system is not without rhyme or reason.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Chinese language uses radicals or <strong>\u90e8\u9996<\/strong> (b\u00f9sh\u01d2u), which are the graphical components of the Chinese character. They are essentially building blocks that appear within characters, making them easier to remember.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alone, most radicals don\u2019t mean anything, but they are combined with other radicals to form the full Chinese characters. There are quite a few radicals that do have meaning by themselves as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are 214 Chinese radicals in all, which is quite a lot to learn! However, rest assured that studying radicals will help you with memorizing the thousands of characters you need in the language. Being able to separate Chinese characters into their components will make it easier to remember them than trying to recall each brushstroke alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The best way to start is by learning very common Chinese radicals that appear in lots of characters.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/en\/learn-chinese-online\/?utm_source=LingQ Blog&amp;utm_medium=banner&amp;utm_campaign=blogpost&amp;utm_content=BreakitDown:ChineseRadicalsforBeginners\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-176593350 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Blog-Post-4.png\" alt=\"Learn Chinese online at LingQ\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Blog-Post-4.png 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Blog-Post-4-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Blog-Post-4-600x257.png 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>8 Common Chinese Radicals<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><b>\u6c35(three drops of water)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176481863 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/water-drop.png\" alt=\"Chinese radicals\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/water-drop.png 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/water-drop-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/water-drop-600x257.png 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This radical is easy to recognize and write. It looks like three drops of water, which isn\u2019t a coincidence! The Chinese name for this radical is literally \u201cthree drops of water,\u201d or <strong>\u4e09\u70b9\u6c34<\/strong>(s\u0101ndi\u01censhu\u01d0).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll frequently see this on the left side of a Chinese character. While not always the case, this radical often indicates that the character\u2019s meaning is related to water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some examples include <strong>\u6cb3 \u6d77<\/strong> \u00a0and <strong>\u6e38<\/strong> .<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u6cb3<\/strong> means \u201criver,\u201d <strong>\u6d77<\/strong> \u201cocean\u201d and <strong>\u6e38<\/strong> \u201cswim.\u201d As you can see, these characters all have to do with water.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>\u6708(moon)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176481854 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/moon.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese radicals\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/moon.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/moon-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/moon-600x257.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The moon is an important object in Chinese culture, represented by the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday during which family members traditionally get together to view the moon and eat moon cakes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The symbol for moon is also a common radical. Be careful though, since in this case, the standalone symbol doesn\u2019t correlate with its meaning. When occurring on the left side of a character, <strong>\u6708<\/strong> (yu\u00e8) has a meaning closer to \u201cflesh,\u201d and is used in a lot of words indicating body parts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some characters with the <strong>\u6708<\/strong> radical include <strong>\u809a<\/strong>,<strong> \u8111<\/strong>,<strong> \u670b<\/strong>, and<strong> \u670d<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u809a<\/strong> and <strong>\u8111<\/strong> mean \u201cstomach\u201d and \u201cbrain\u201d respectively. <strong>\u670b<\/strong> means \u201cfriend\u201d or \u201cacquaintance,\u201d and <strong>\u670d<\/strong> means \u201cclothes.\u201d You can see that a diversity of Chinese characters can be created with the <strong>\u6708<\/strong> radical.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>\u5973 (female)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176481859 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/little-girl.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese radicals\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/little-girl.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/little-girl-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/little-girl-600x257.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u5973<\/strong> (n\u01da) is the Chinese character for female and looks a little like a girl curtsying. Can you guess what kind of words will have a <strong>\u5973<\/strong> radical?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some characters that have this radical are <strong>\u5988<\/strong>,<strong> \u59b9<\/strong>,<strong> \u59d0<\/strong>,<strong> \u5976 <\/strong>and<strong> \u5ac1<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u5988<\/strong>, <strong>\u59b9<\/strong> and <strong>\u59d0<\/strong> are female family members: mother, little sister and big sister, respectively. <strong>\u5976<\/strong> means \u201cmilk,\u201d and <strong>\u5ac1<\/strong> means \u201cmarriage.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>\u4ebb (person)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176481855 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/people_holding_hands.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese radicals\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/people_holding_hands.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/people_holding_hands-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/people_holding_hands-600x257.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u4eba<\/strong> (r\u00e9n) may be a word you\u2019re familiar with even if you don\u2019t know much Chinese yet. It means \u201cperson\u201d or \u201chumanity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the radical for \u201cperson\u201d is <strong>\u4ebb<\/strong>, which looks like a compressed form of the character. Character (pun intended) is emphasized in Chinese culture and language, so it is good to become familiar with this radical. <strong>\u4ebb<\/strong> is often used in words having to do with people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some characters with this radical are <strong>\u4f60<\/strong>,<strong> \u4ed6 <\/strong>and<strong> \u4f24<\/strong>\u3002<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u4f60<\/strong> means \u201cyou,\u201d <strong>\u4ed6<\/strong> means \u201che\u201d or \u201chim,\u201d and <strong>\u4f24<\/strong> means \u201cwound.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>\u5202 (knife)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176481858 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/knife.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese radicals\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/knife.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/knife-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/knife-600x257.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This radical looks like two sharp lines made on a cutting board and, aptly, it is referred to as the \u201cknife\u201d radical.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Usually occurring on the right side of a character, <strong>\u5202<\/strong>(d\u0101o) is often used in characters that have something to do with cutting, sharpness or the abstract quality of it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some example characters are <strong>\u5230<\/strong>,<strong> \u523b <\/strong>and<strong> \u5224<\/strong>\u3002<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u5230<\/strong> means \u201cto arrive,\u201d <strong>\u523b<\/strong> \u201cto carve\u201d and <strong>\u5224<\/strong> \u201cto judge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>\u5fc3 (heart)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176481856 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/heart.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese radicals\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/heart.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/heart-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/heart-600x257.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This heartwarming Chinese radical is a good one to take to heart.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other than for use in glaringly bad puns, this radical is commonly used in characters having to do with feeling. This makes sense, as the heart, or <strong>\u5fc3<\/strong> (x\u012bn), is the place of emotion. This radical is often placed at the bottom of a character.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some characters that use this radical are<strong> \u611f<\/strong>,<strong> \u60b2 <\/strong>and<strong> \u5fcd<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u611f<\/strong> \u00a0means \u201cemotion\u201d in the most general sense. <strong>\u60b2<\/strong> stands for \u201csadness,\u201d and <strong>\u5fcd<\/strong> means \u201cto bear or tolerate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>\u5f73 (travel, going)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176481861 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/signpost.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese radicals\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/signpost.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/signpost-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/signpost-600x257.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This radical is literally referred to as \u201cleft step,\u201d after the concept of stepping with the left foot, which is oddly specific!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may help to know that this radical is mostly used on the left side of a character. It often connotes the meaning of \u201cgoing\u201d or \u201ctravel\u201d in characters. Not to be confused with <strong>\u4ebb<\/strong> (person), this radical has an extra stroke on top.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some characters include <strong>\u884c<\/strong>,<strong> \u5f80 <\/strong>and<strong> \u5f9c<\/strong>\u3002<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u884c<\/strong> means \u201cto walk,\u201d <strong>\u5f80<\/strong> means \u201ctoward or bound for,\u201d and <strong>\u5f9c<\/strong> means \u201cto wander.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>\u5b80 (roof)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176481860 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/roof.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese radicals\" width=\"700\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/roof.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/roof-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/roof-600x257.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAt least I have a roof over my head,\u201d the saying goes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A roof is an important necessity, recognized by the Chinese since ancient times. If you have a roof, you have a place to live. If you have a roof, you have some protection from the elements. As its connotations imply, <strong>\u5b80<\/strong> (mi\u00e1n) is often used in words related to dwelling or protection. The position of <strong>\u5b80<\/strong> in a character is often above other radicals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some example characters are <strong>\u5bb6<\/strong>,<strong> \u5b88 <\/strong>and<strong> \u5b9d<\/strong>\u3002<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u5bb6<\/strong> means \u201chome,\u201d <strong>\u5b88<\/strong> \u201cprotect or guard\u201d and <strong>\u5b9d<\/strong> \u201ctreasure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There you have it! Eight useful radicals that you can look for in Chinese texts you come across. Play a guessing game when you come across an unknown character, and see if you can predict the meaning based on the radicals (or at least get close).\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLn7iYKq-G3PIrFBozQb7yLzicNGfITO8N\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-176600274 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Chinese_Blog-Banner-1-1024x288.jpg\" alt=\"Learn Chinese with the LingQ podcast\" width=\"870\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Chinese_Blog-Banner-1-1024x288.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Chinese_Blog-Banner-1-300x84.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Chinese_Blog-Banner-1-768x216.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Chinese_Blog-Banner-1-600x169.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Chinese_Blog-Banner-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Easily read Chinese characters<\/h2>\n<p>As I mentioned, reading Chinese characters may be a bit daunting but what if I told you there was an easier way. Instead of having to stop what your reading, look up the character&#8217;s meaning in a new dictionary, and disrupt your flow, LingQ let&#8217;s you easily look up characters with a single tap. Read along transcripts from LingQ&#8217;s mini stories or content that you&#8217;ve imported easily without having to disrupt your flow!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-176593285\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Screenshot_2019-03-06-13-44-11-300x629-1.png\" alt=\"Learn Chinese on the LingQ mobile app\" width=\"212\" height=\"445\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Screenshot_2019-03-06-13-44-11-300x629-1.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Screenshot_2019-03-06-13-44-11-300x629-1-143x300.png 143w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Looking characters\/vocabulary up in LingQ (available for <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.linguist&amp;hl=en_CA\">Android<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/lingq-learn-25-languages\/id379385811?mt=8\">iOS<\/a>) also lets you hear how they are pronounced using text to speech technology. Of course, when you import movies or music into LingQ, you can read and listen at the same time. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out LingQ today to discover<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lingq.com\/en\/learn-chinese-online\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how to learn Chinese<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from content you love!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">***<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Connie Huang has self-studied the Japanese language for over a decade. In addition to Japanese, she knows Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and French.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chinese is a language that has no alphabet, which can be daunting for the Chinese learner. Instead there are characters, over 50,000 of them. However, if you want to learn &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":176481857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[105],"class_list":["post-176481850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-chinese","tag-english"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Break it Down: Chinese Radicals for Beginners - LingQ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you daunted by the sheer number of Chinese characters? Never fear! 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