Learn the 214 Chinese radicals — the building blocks of every Chinese character. With just 40 common radicals, you can recognize the meaning of 80% of characters you encounter.
Radicals (部首 bù shǒu) are the 214 standard components used to classify Chinese characters in dictionaries. Every character contains at least one radical. Think of them like word roots in English: once you know aqua- means water, you can guess aquamarine, aquarium, aquatic. Same with 氵(three-water) — any character containing it relates to water: 河 (hé, river), 海 (hǎi, ocean), 流 (liú, flow).
1. 亻(人) — person: 你 (you), 他 (he), 们 (plural). 2. 口 — mouth: 吃 (eat), 叫 (call), 呢 (particle). 3. 氵(水) — water: 河 (river), 海 (ocean), 酒 (alcohol). 4. 木 — tree/wood: 林 (forest), 桌 (desk), 机 (machine). 5. 艹(草) — grass/plant: 花 (flower), 茶 (tea), 药 (medicine). 6. 扌(手) — hand: 打 (hit), 找 (find), 抱 (hug). 7. 女 — woman: 妈 (mom), 好 (good), 姐 (sister). 8. 忄(心) — heart: 想 (think), 快 (fast), 忙 (busy). 9. 讠(言) — speech: 说 (speak), 话 (words), 读 (read). 10. 日 — sun/day: 明 (bright), 时 (time), 晚 (evening).
Tap any Chinese character in the app, and you'll see a bottom sheet showing every radical it's made of — with meanings and pronunciations for each component. Our database covers 67,916 characters, with 9,574 having full SVG stroke animations. This is the fastest way to learn: see the character, see its parts, understand why it means what it means.
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