Kickstart your Chinese character learning with the 100 most common radicals

I’ve taught many introduction courses in Chinese. Each time, I’ve felt the lack of a beginner-friendly list of the most common Chinese radicals. I tell students that learning character components is essential, and that it’s a long-term investment that will pay off several times over the course of their Chinese studies. I then show them some of the most common Chinese radicals.

But then what?

Beginners often find it hard to determine which components are common and which aren’t, and learning all of them at once is not a good idea. Sure, you can learn any component you see more than twice, but I think we can do better!

Filling a gap: The most common Chinese radicals

Lists of common Chinese radicals are typically based on data from a very large number of characters. If you base such a list on the 50,000 characters in the Kangxi dictionary, you will end up believing that 鸟/鳥, “bird”, is one of the most common Chinese radicals (the first character is simplified Chinese, the second is traditional Chinese; learn more here if you’re not sure what this means).

There’s only one problem: 鸟/鳥 is not even close to being the most important Chinese radical for beginners to learn.

If you only take the most commonly used 2,000 characters into account, 鸟 only occurs nine times. That means it doesn’t even make the top 100!

In other words, while there are many characters that use this radical, most of these characters are not within the most commonly used 2,000 and thus not relevant for beginners or even intermediate learners. In fact, most of the characters 鸟 appears in are bird names, which should be low on any beginner’s priority list.

The most common Chinese radicals among the most common characters

The list I have compiled here is based on the frequency of the radicals among the 2,000 most commonly used characters. This means that all these radicals are essential. Almost all occur in at least ten characters, most of them in more than that.

As a beginner, you can learn all the radicals on this list without fearing that you’re learning things you don’t actually need. It’s meant to be a solid foundation on which to build.

Download a list of the 100 most common Chinese radicals, completely free!

The list I have compiled is presented at the very end of this article (click here to skip to it). However, you probably want to download the list or do something else with it, so here are a few options:

• The 100 most common Chinese radicals as a PDF (suitable for printing). There are two PDF versions available, so if you don’t like that one (created by Markus Ackermann), you can try this version, made by Peter Lee. Thanks for helping me create the printable PDFs, guys!
• The 100 most common Chinese radicals in .txt format (for importing into other programs or for easy editing or viewing). If the Chinese characters are not displayed properly, try this file instead (the first is UTF-16, the other UTF-8).
• The 100 most common radicals in .anki format (this is the old Anki format, if you’re using a new version of Anki, you can just use this link, if you want better formatting of the cards, please refer to this text file, created by Gregory).
• The 100 most common radicals as a printable poster – This is a printable poster created by a reader who prefers to be anonymous. The intended size is A1, so printing it on a normal printer won’t work.

What information does the 100 most common Chinese radical list contain?

These are the columns used in the list:

1. Simplified – The full form of the radical in simplified Chinese.
2. Traditional – The full form of the radical in traditional Chinese.
3. Variants – Common variants of the same character. While these may appear very different to a beginner, they are variants of the same character.
4. Meaning – The basic meaning of the radical in English.
5. Pronunciation – How to pronounce the radical in Pinyin. Pronunciations in brackets can be ignored! It means that these characters are mostly used for their meaning and seldom used on their own. Even native speakers might not know the pronunciation of these and will use the colloquial name instead (the last column).
6. Examples – Five examples chosen from the 2,000 most common (simplified) characters to show you the component in context. Please note that it might not be the radical in all these examples, but also that this is irrelevant from a learner perspective. See the discussion below radicals and character component for a longer explanation.
7. Comment – Things worth noting about this radical, often highlighting similarities and differences with other radicals.
8. Colloquial name – The name Chinese people use to refer to the radical. Beginners can ignore this, but learning the most common ones is necessary if you need to talk about Chinese characters in Chinese.

Kickstart your character learning with the 100 most common Chinese radicals

As a beginner, you can use the list to boost your understanding of Chinese characters. Learning these 100 fairly simple characters will enable you to recognise parts of almost any character you will encounter. Of course, you won’t recognise all parts of every character, but it is a good start!

If you want a good tool to learn characters in general, I suggest using Skritter. It’s the only tool that gives you instructive feedback and requires you to write correct characters. It also uses spaced repetition, making learning characters much more efficient. If you want to study this radical list on Skritter, you can find it by clicking here.

You can study this list in Skritter without even creating an account. If you do create an account, though, please use this link so you can get a hefty discount if you choose to subscribe. You have to sign up on the website to get the discount, but you can then use that account to study on iOS or Android.

Kickstart your understanding of Chinese characters

Chinese is a wonderful language to learn, partly because it can be hacked so efficiently!

Learning Chinese characters by pure rote takes huge amounts of time, but by learning basic components (such as those in this list), you can make learning characters both meaningful and fun.

Instead of simply writing a character over and over, take a close look at the parts and find creative ways of linking them together.

I have written more about how to learn Chinese characters:

• How to learn Chinese characters as a beginner
• My best advice on how to learn Chinese characters
• Is it necessary to learn to write Chinese characters by hand?
• Is it necessary to learn the stroke order of Chinese characters?
• A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand

Most common Chinese radicals? Character components? Functional components?

This list isn’t perfect. In essence, there are two things that would make it even more useful. First, even though this list is weighted according to character frequency, it would be better to not just count occurrences, but to also weigh these. Thus, the 亻 in 他, “he”, should count for more than the 亻 in 伪/僞, “false”, which is obviously much less common.

Second, radicals aren’t necessarily the most important building blocks. A radical is really just the part of a character under which that character is sorted in dictionaries. This means that there are other character components that are common, but which aren’t radicals. Furthermore, since each character has one and only one radical, many of them occur more often as semantic components in characters where they aren’t the radical.

There are also many other components that normally carry information about how a character is pronounced. In 妈/媽, the radical is 女, “woman”, which is clearly related to the meaning of the character. The other part 马, means “horse”, and is as clearly not related to the meaning of the character. It’s pronounced the same way, though, but with a different tone. If you want a more thorough explanation of how characters work, I’ve written a series of articles about that, starting here:

The building blocks of Chinese, part 1: Chinese characters and words in a nutshell

I hope you will find this list useful, and that with it, learning Chinese characters will be meaningful and interesting rather than confusing and frustrating!

Kickstart your character learning with the 100 most common  Chinese radicals

Below, I have tried to squeeze the list into the format of this article. It’s not likely to look good on a small screen, so if you’re on your phone, either use one of the files/links provided above or switch to a computer.

Skip to comment section!

S	T	Variant	Meaning	Pinyin	Examples	Comments	Colloquial
人	人	亻	person	rén	今仁休位他	Note similarity with 八, which means eight.	单人旁（亻），人字头（人）
口	口		mouth, opening	kǒu	古可名告知	Note similarity with 囗, which always encloses characters, and means enclosure.	口字旁
土	土		earth	tǔ	在地型城地	Note similarity with 士, which has a longer upper stroke and shorter bottom one, and means scholar.	提土旁
女	女		woman, female	nǚ	好妄始姓安		女字旁
心	心	忄，⺗	heart	xīn	必忙忘性想		竖心旁（忄），心字底（心），竖心底（⺗）
手	手	扌，龵	hand	shǒu	持掌打抱押		提手旁（扌），看字头（龵），手字旁（手）
日	日		sun, day	rì	白百明时晩	Note similarity with 曰, which is broader and lower, and means to say. Also note 白 which means white.	日字旁
月	月		moon, month	yuè	有服青朝明	This radical is actually two: moon 月 and meat 肉, but in modern Chinese, they look the same in most cases。	月字旁
木	木		tree	mù	板相根本林	Note similarity with 禾, which means grain.	木字旁
氵	氵	水，氺	water	shuǐ	永泳海洋沙	Note similarity with 冫, which means ice.	水字旁（水），三点水（氵），泰字底水（氺）
火	火	灬	fire	huǒ	灯炎焦然炸		火字旁（火），四点底（灬）
纟	糹	糸	silk	(mì)	纪纸累细绩		绞丝旁（纟），独立绞丝（糸）
艹	艹	艸	grass	cǎo	花英苦草茶	Note that when the radical is on top, the traditional variant has four strokes.	草字头（艹）
讠	訁	言	speech	yán	说讲识评试		言字旁（讠）
辶	辶	⻍	walk	(chuò)	迎通道这近		走之旁（⻌）
钅	釒	金	gold, metal	jīn	银针钱铁钟		金字旁（钅）
刂	刂	刀	knife, sword	dāo	分切初利刻	Note similarity with 力, which means force.	立刀旁（刂），刀字旁（刀）
宀	宀		roof	(mián)	守家室字宅	Note similarity with 冖, which means cover, and with 亠, which means lid.	宝盖头
贝	貝		shell	bèi	财贪货贸员	Note similarity with 见, which means to see.	贝字旁
一	一		one	yī	三旦正百天		横
力	力		power, force	lì	力加助勉男	Note similarity with 刀, which means knife.	力字旁
又	又		right hand	yòu	反取受左友		又字旁
犭	犭	犬	dog	(quǎn)	犯狂狗献猪	Note similarity with 大, which means big.	反犬旁（犭），犬字旁（犬）
禾	禾		grain	(he)	利私季和香	Note similarity with 木, which means tree.	禾木旁
⺮	⺮	竹	bamboo	zhú	笑第简筷算		竹字头
虫	虫		insect	chóng	強独蛇蛋蚊	Even though this radical means insect, it’s used for many organisms which aren’t insects according to our taxonomy.	虫字旁
阝left	阝left	阜	mound, dam	(fù)	防阻陆院陈	Note that there are two radicals which look like this. On the left, it means mound, dam, and on the right, it means city.	双耳刀（左耳刀）
大	大		big, very	dà	天尖因奇美		大字旁（头）
广	广		house on cliff	guǎng	店府度座庭	Note similarity with 厂, which means cliff (i.e. without the house).	广字旁
田	田		field	tián	思留略番累		田字旁
目	目	罒	eye	mù	眼睛看相省	Note that the horizontal version can also mean net.	目字旁（目），四字头（罒）
石	石		stone	shí	砂破碑矿码		石字旁
衤	衤	衣	clothes	yī	初被裁裤袜	Note similarity with 礻, which means sign, show or spirit.	衣字旁（衤）
足	足	⻊	foot	zú	跑跨跟路距		足字旁
马	馬		horse	mǎ	码驾骂驻妈		马字旁
页	頁		leaf	yè	顺须领预顶		页字旁
巾	巾		turban, scarf	(jīn)	市布帝帐帽		巾字旁
米	米		rice	mǐ	类粉迷粗糖		米字旁
车	車		cart, vehicle	chē	轮软军较输		车字旁
八	八		eight	bā	公分趴兵共	Note similarity with 人, which means human, person.	八字旁（头）
尸	尸		corpse	shī	尺局尾居展	Note similarity with 戶, which means door, family.	尸字头
寸	寸		thumb, inch	cùn	寺尊对射付		寸字旁
山	山		mountain	shān	岩岛岁崗岔		山字旁（头）
攵	攵	攴	knock, tap	(pū)	收改攻做政	Note similarity with 夊, which means to walk (slowly).	反文旁（攵），旧反文旁（攴）
彳	彳		(small) step	(chí)	彼很律微德	Note similarity with 亻, which means human, person.	双人旁
十	十		ten	shí	什计古叶早		十字旁（头）
工	工		work	gōng	左江红巧功		工字旁
方	方		square, raft	fāng	放旅族仿房		方字旁
门	門		gate	mén	间闲问闭闻		门字框
饣	飠	食	eat, food	shí	饭饿饮馆饱		食字旁
欠	欠		lack, yawn	qiàn	欢欧欲次歌		欠字旁
儿	儿		human, legs	ér	元四光兄充	Note similarity with 人, which means human, person, and with 八 which means eight.	儿座底
冫	冫		ice	bīng	冬冷冻况净		两点水
子	子		child, seed	zǐ	字学存孩季		子字旁
疒	疒		sickness	(nè)	病痛疗疯痩		病字旁
隹	隹		(short-tailed) bird	(zhuī)	雀集难雅谁		隹字旁
斤	斤		axe	(jīn)	所新听近析		斤字旁
亠	亠		lid	(tóu)	亡交京	Note similarity with 宀, which means roof, and 冖 which means cover.	点横头
王	王	玉	jade, king	yù, wáng	主弄皇理现	This radical is 玉, but when in composition, it looks like 王, king, and is probably more easily remembered like that.	王字旁
白	白		white	bái	的皆皇怕迫	Note similarity with 日, which means sun.	白字旁
立	立		stand, erect	lì	音意端亲位		立字旁
羊	羊	⺶，⺷	sheep	yáng	着样洋美鲜		羊字旁
艮	艮		stopping	(gèn)	很恨恳根眼		艮字旁
冖	冖		cover	(mì)	写军农深荣		秃宝盖
厂	厂		cliff	(hàn)	厚原厉厅厕	Note similarity with 广, which has ha house on top (the dot).	厂字旁
皿	皿		dish	(mǐn)	盆监盟盛盖		皿字底
礻	礻	示	sign, spirit, show	shì	社神视祝祥	Note similarity with 衤, which means clothes.	示字旁
穴	穴		cave	xuè	空突穷究窗		穴宝盖
走	走		run, walk	zǒu	起超越赶徒		走字旁
雨	雨		rain	yǔ	雷雪霜需露		雨字头
囗	囗		enclosure	(wéi)	回国因图团	Note similarity with 口, which does not enclose other components and means mouth.	国字框
小	小	⺌⺍	small	xiǎo	少肖尚尖尘		小字旁（头）
戈	戈		halberd	(gē)	成式战感我		戈字旁
几	几		table	jī	朵机风凡凤		几字旁
舌	舌		tongue	shé	乱适话舍活		舌字旁
干	干		dry	gān	平刊汗旱赶		干字旁
殳	殳		weapon	(shū)	段没投般设		殳字旁
夕	夕		evening, sunset	xī	外多夜名岁		夕字旁
止	止		stop	zhǐ	正此步歪址		止字旁
牜	牜	牛，⺧	cow	niú	告物解特件		牛字旁（头）
皮	皮		skin	pí	披彼波破疲		皮字旁
耳	耳		ear	ěr	取闻职聪联		耳字旁
辛	辛		bitter	xīn	辜辟辣辨辩		辛字旁
阝right	阝right	邑	city	(yì)	那邦部都邮	Note that there are two radicals which look like this. On the left, it means mound, dam, and on the right, it means city.	双耳刀（右耳刀）
酉	酉		wine	(yǒu)	醉酒醒酸尊		酉字旁
青	青		green/blue	qīng	请清情晴猜		青字旁
鸟	鳥		bird	niǎo	鸦鸣鸭岛鸡		鸟字旁
弓	弓		bow	gōng	引张弱第强		弓字旁
厶	厶		private	sī	公勾去私云		私字旁
户	户	戶	door, house	hù	所房炉护启	Note similarity with 尸, which means corpse.	户字旁
羽	羽		feather	yǔ	习翻翅塌扇		羽字旁
舟	舟		boat	chuán	般船航盘艇		舟字旁
里	里		village, mile	lǐ	野重量理埋		里字旁
匕	匕		spoon	(bǐ)	匙比北呢旨		匕字旁
夂	夂		go (slowly)	(suī)	各條复备夏	Note similarity with 攵, which means to knock, to rap.	折文旁
见	見		see	jiàn	观规视现觉	Note similarity with 贝, which means shell.	见字旁
卩	卩		seal	(jié)	卷印却即危		单耳刀
罒	罒	网	net	wǎng	罗罚罢罪罩	Note that the horizontal version can also mean net.	四字头（罒）
士	士		scholar	shì	吉壶志声壮	Note similarity with 土, which means earth.	士字旁
勹	勹		embrace, wrap	(bāo)	包勿勾勺勻		包字头