#1 Radicals

#2

#3

#4

#5

Original characters ---

Pinyin Meaning Examples

---

---

yan word

dao knife

ren man

leng cold capital

jing to talk

shuo to arrive

dao to stop

xiu

bing ice emperor

di to request

qing sword

jian Buddha

fo

xi to practise Compounds lengyin cold drinks

xuan obscure language

yu to publish

kan Immortal

xian

Beijing Peking

shuo hua to speak

daolai arrival

xiuxi to rest

bingdong to freeze

huangdi emperor

qing wen may I ask...

jianbing handle of a sword

fojing Buddhist scripture

xiguan to get used to

xuanmiao marvellous

yuyan language

yuekan monthly publication

xiannu female immortal

#1 The first radical is called the "two drops of water"; it usually appears in characters that have to do with coldness. It's placed at the left side of characters. #2 This radical always stays on top of characters.

#3 This radical is called "speech", and it appears at the left side of characters that have to do with language. #4 The original form of the "knife" is also a radical; it's found at the bottom of characters, as in the first of the following. The second character shows a third form of this radical (placed on top):

fen

to divide

zheng

to argue

#5 The fifth radical is called the "standing person", and is always placed at the left side of characters. The character it comes from can also be used as a radical; in that case it always stays on top, as in the following character:

zhong

crowd

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

Radicals

Original characters

--

Pinyin Meaning

er ear

shui water

xin heart

guang broad

---

yang Examples sun spirit

jiu strange

guai temple

miao palace

gong

xian limit oil

you to regret

hui bed

chuang guest

ke

dui team sand

sha quick

kuai court

ting treasure

bao

taiyang sun Compounds

baijiu white spirit

qiguai strange

simiao temple

huanggong imperial palace

xiandu limit

youhua oil painting

huihen to regret

chuangdan sheet

keqi polite

duizhang team leader

dousha bean paste

kuaile happy

jiating family

lingbao Nouminous Treasure

#6 The first radical is called the "ear", and it can stay at the left side or at the right side of characters. #7 This radical is called "three drops of water", symbolizes flowing water and occurs on the left of characters. Its original form is also a radical; in the following character is placed at the bottom but its position is not fixed:

quan

spring, fountain

#8 The original form of the "heart" is also radical, and is always placed at the bottom, as in the following character:

si

thought

#10 This radical is called "the covering top" and it always occurs on top. Characters with this radical are often related to the idea of house.

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

Radicals

Original characters

--

Pinyin Meaning

men door

zou to walk

tu soil

---

da big

jian space in between Examples to ask

jin to enter earth

di grass

cao greatest

tai

wen far

yuan pagoda

ta flower

hua

kua to exaggerate

xian leisure to be lost

mi wall

qiang apple

ping beautiful

mei

shijian time Compounds

jinbu to improve

difang place

caoshu grass writing, cursive

taitai madame

wenti question

yuanzu excursion

dengta lighthouse

xuehua snowflakes

kuakou to boast

xianhua gossip

mixin superstition

qiangbi wall

pingguo apple

meili pretty

#12 The original form of this radical is also a radical, as in the following character:

chao

to exceed

#13 The original form of the "soil" is also radical, and is always placed at the bottom, as in the following characters:

chen

dust

zuo

to sit

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

Radicals

Original characters

--

--

Pinyin Meaning

shou hand

kou mouth

---

shan mountain

---

da to hit Examples to seize

jiao to shout, to call

guo country island

dao line

hang

zhua to sigh

tan drawing

tu

ling mountain ridge

hen very

ti to carry to listen

ting

quan circle, to enclose

feng peak virtue

de

dakai open Compounds

jiaohan to shout

guoji international

daoyu islands

yinhang bank

zhuazhu to catch

tanci exclamation

ditu map

shanling mountain ridge

hen duo very much

tigao to raise

tingzhong audience, listeners

quanzi circle, ring

shanfeng mountain peak

daode ethics

#16 The original form of the "hand" is also a radical, placed at the bottom or on the left:

na

to hold, to take

bai

to worship, to respect

#17 The "mouth" is not always placed on the left of characters, as in the following examples:

ming

name

shi

history

#19 This radical also stays on top or at the bottom of characters:

sui

year

yue

high mountain