Basic Chinese radicals
In the dictionary, English words are arranged according to an alphabetical order. Chinese words are often classified according to their radicals. There are 214 radicals all together.
It is very useful to learn the Chinese radicals and their meanings, since each radical gives essential meaning to a Chinese character. Every Chinese character has a radical or the character may be itself a radical. For example, 女 is the character for woman. It is also the radical for other words related to woman:姐姐 = older sister, 妈妈 = mother.Learning Radicals
The following downloadable material from The Learning Lotus Project — This website contains useful visual-based learning materials for Chinese radicals, vocabulary, idioms, etc.:
Learning Radicals (including three Radical Sets): Here are the downloadable first Radical Set with details info about each radical:
- Radical Set I Color:Download PDF
- Radical Set I B&W:Download PDF
The following radicals with pictures are based on Vivid Chinese, authored by Moanna:
RADICALS

羽(yǔ)feather

米(mǐ)rice

羊(yáng)sheep

衣/衤(yī)clothes

舟(zhōu) boat

自(zì)self

⺮(zhú)bamboo

舌(shé)tongue

肉(ròu)flesh

虫(chóng)insect

虍 (hū)tiger

页(yè)page

耳(ěr)ear

耂(lǎo)old

穴(xué)cave

立(lì)stand

病(bìng)illness

鸟(niǎo)bird

白(bái)white

禾(hé)crop

西/覀(xī)west

皿(mǐn)vessel

田(tián) rice field

目(mù)eye

龙(lóng)dragon

石(shí)stone

示/礻(shì)show

心/忄(xīn)heart

户(hù)household

火/灬(huǒ)fire

欠(qiàn)yawn

月(yuè)moon/flesh

父(fù)father

爪/爫(zhuǎ)claw

片(piàn)slice

毛(máo)hair

气(qì)gas

手/扌(shǒu) hand

牛(niú)ox

见(jiàn)see

水/氵(shuǐ) water

贝(bèi)shell

日(rì)sun

攵(pū)hand holding a stick

止(zhǐ)stop

戈(gē)spear

车(chē)car

歹(dǎi)evil

犬/犭(quǎn)dog

木 (mù)wood

王/玉(wáng)king/jade

马(mǎ)horse

女(nǚ)female

子(zǐ)baby

弓(gōng)bow

尸(shī) corpse

辶(chuò)walk

宀(mián)roof

门(mén)door

广(guǎng) shelter

夕(xī) sunset

彳(chì) walk

巾(jīn)cloth

山(shān) mountain

囗(wéi) enclosure

口(kǒu) mouth

小 (xiǎo) small

大(dà) big

寸 (cùn) inch

艹 (cǎo) grass

士 (shì) male soldier

土 (tǔ) earth

工 (gōng) tool

又 (yòu) right hand

力 (lì) power

刀/刂 (dāo) knife

冫(bīng) ice

亠 (tóu) roof

儿 (ér) child

勹 (bāo) wrap

人/亻 (rén) person

八 (bā) divide

匚 (kuāng) basket

厂 (chǎng) cliff
Here is a good article about Chinese radicals (偏旁部首)
ID | Chinese | Trad. | Pinyin | English Definition |
---|---|---|---|---|
ID | Chinese | Trad. | Pinyin | English Definition |
1 | 偏旁 ![]() |
piān páng | the left- and right-side of a split Chinese character, often the key (radical) and phonetic | |
2 | 部首 ![]() |
bù shǒu | the Chinese radical |
Here are basic radicals I encourage you to learn:
ID | Chinese | Trad. | Pinyin | English Definition |
---|---|---|---|---|
ID | Chinese | Trad. | Pinyin | English Definition |
1 | 人 ![]() |
rén | man; person; people | |
2 | 刀 ![]() |
dāo | knife | |
3 | 力 ![]() |
lì | power | |
4 | 又 ![]() |
yòu | (once) again; | |
5 | 口 ![]() |
kǒu | mouth | |
6 | 囗 ![]() |
wéi | enclosure | |
7 | 门 ![]() |
門 | mén | door; gate |
8 | 土 ![]() |
tǔ | earth | |
9 | 夕 ![]() |
xī | dusk; evening | |
10 | 大 ![]() |
dà | big | |
11 | 女 ![]() |
nǚ | female; woman | |
12 | 子 ![]() |
zǐ | son; child | |
13 | 寸 ![]() |
cùn | inch | |
14 | 小 ![]() |
xiǎo | small | |
15 | 工 ![]() |
gōng | labor | |
16 | 幺 ![]() |
么 | yāo | tiny; small |
17 | 弓 ![]() |
gōng | a bow | |
18 | 马 ![]() |
馬 | mǎ | horse |
19 | 心 ![]() |
xīn | heart; mind | |
20 | 戈 ![]() |
gē | dagger; spear | |
21 | 手 ![]() |
shǒu | hand | |
22 | 日 ![]() |
rì | sun; day | |
23 | 月 ![]() |
yuè | moon; month | |
24 | 贝 ![]() |
貝 | bèi | cowry (shell) |
25 | 木 ![]() |
mù | wood; tree | |
26 | 水 ![]() |
shuǐ | water | |
27 | 火 ![]() |
huǒ | fire | |
28 | 田 ![]() |
tián | field; farm | |
29 | 目 ![]() |
mù | eye | |
30 | 示 ![]() |
shì | to show | |
31 | 糸 ![]() |
mì | fine silk, Used as a radical only, not as a character itself | |
32 | 耳 ![]() |
ěr | ear | |
33 | 衣 ![]() |
yī | clothing | |
34 | 言 ![]() |
yán | words; speech; to say; to talk | |
35 | 走 ![]() |
zǒu | to walk | |
36 | 足 ![]() |
zú | foot | |
37 | 金 ![]() |
jīn | metal; gold | |
38 | 隹 ![]() |
zhuī | short-tailed bird | |
39 | 雨 ![]() |
yǔ | rain | |
40 | 食 ![]() |
shí | to eat |
Kickstart your character learning with the 100 most common radicals
-
-
- Author:Kwon EunJung
- Latest Version:1.0.7
- Publish Date:Dec 03 2015 Paid App
This app includes the following radicals:


