Twelve Common Chinese Radicals and What They Tell You

Radicals are the building blocks under many Chinese characters. Learning a dozen common ones lets you guess the general meaning of many new characters and speeds up dictionary lookup.

1. 氵 (water)

Characters with this radical are usually related to water or liquids: 河 (hé, river), 海 (hǎi, sea), 湖 (hú, lake), 汤 (tāng, soup), 洗 (xǐ, wash).

2. 亻 (person)

A compressed form of 人, it appears in characters about people: 你 (nǐ, you), 他 (tā, he), 住 (zhù, live), 们 (men, plural marker), 休 (xiū, rest, a person leaning on a tree).

3. 口 (mouth)

Related to mouths, speaking and eating: 吃 (chī, eat), 喝 (hē, drink), 叫 (jiào, call), 吗 (ma, question particle), 唱 (chàng, sing).

4. 木 (tree, wood)

Related to trees and wooden things: 林 (lín, woods), 树 (shù, tree), 桌 (zhuō, table), 板 (bǎn, board), 桥 (qiáo, bridge).

5. 女 (woman)

Found in characters about women and family: 妈 (mā, mother), 姐 (jiě, older sister), 妹 (mèi, younger sister), 好 (hǎo, good, from woman plus child), 奶 (nǎi, milk, grandmother).

6. 心 / 忄 (heart)

Related to feelings and thought: 想 (xiǎng, think), 忘 (wàng, forget), 情 (qíng, emotion), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怕 (pà, fear).

7. 言 / 讠 (speech)

Related to speaking: 说 (shuō, say), 请 (qǐng, please), 谢 (xiè, thank), 读 (dú, read), 语 (yǔ, language).

8. 扌 (hand)

Related to actions done by hand: 打 (dǎ, hit), 找 (zhǎo, look for), 拿 (ná, take), 推 (tuī, push), 提 (tí, carry).

9. 辶 (walk)

Related to movement and roads: 过 (guò, pass), 这 (zhè, this), 进 (jìn, enter), 送 (sòng, send), 道 (dào, road).

10. 饣 (food)

Related to food: 饭 (fàn, meal), 饿 (è, hungry), 饱 (bǎo, full), 饺 (jiǎo, as in dumplings), 馆 (guǎn, restaurant or hall).

11. 钅 (metal)

Related to metals and money: 钱 (qián, money), 银 (yín, silver), 铁 (tiě, iron), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell), 针 (zhēn, needle).

12. 日 (sun, day)

Related to sun and time: 明 (míng, bright), 晴 (qíng, clear), 早 (zǎo, early), 时 (shí, time), 星 (xīng, star).

Radicals hint, they don't decide

A radical gives a clue, not a definition. The other component of a character often hints at pronunciation, so 河 (hé) combines the water radical with 可 (kě), which gives a similar sound.

Using radicals with a dictionary

If you meet an unknown character, identify the radical, count the remaining strokes and look it up. Or type it with a handwriting keyboard.

Practice

1. Learn one radical a day with five example characters.
2. Sort new characters by radical in your notebook.
3. Guess the meaning of new characters from their radicals.
4. Check guesses in a dictionary.

Look up characters and their meanings with English Chinese Dictionary →