The Most Common Chinese Radicals
A Chinese radical is a graphical component of a Chinese character under which the character is traditionally listed in a Chinese dictionary. This component is often a semantic indicator (the meaning of the character), though in some cases the original semantic connection has become obscure owing to changes in character meaning over time. In other cases the radical may be a phonetic component or even an artificially extracted portion of the characte.
When you start to learn Chinese characters, below 40 most common Chinese radicals, it might help for you.
Radical Pinyin – English Examples
人 – 亻 rén – man, person 你 们
刀 -刂 dāo – knife 分 别
力 lì – power 动 加
又 yòu – both, again 受 反
口 kǒu – mouth 古 名
囗 wéi – enclosure Used as a radical only, not as a character itself 回 国
门 mén – door 问 闻
土 tǔ – earth 在 地
夕 xī – sunset 外 多
大 dà – big, large 天 奈
女 nǚ – female, woman 姐 妹
子 zǐ – son 孩 孙
寸 cùn – inch 寺 尊
小 ⺌- ⺍ xiǎo – little, small, young 少 小
工 gōng – labor, work 左 差
幺 yāo – tiny, small 幻,幼
弓 gōng – bow 引 弟
马 mǎ – horse 骑 驻
心 – 忄 xīn – heart 怀 念
戈 gē – dagger-axe 找 我
手 – 扌 shǒu – hand 打 找
日 rì – sun, day 明 百
月 yuè – moon 朋 有
肉 (⺼) ròu – meat 股 胃
贝 bèi – cowry (shell) 货 财
木 mù – wood 森 林
水 – 氵 shuǐ – water 河 洗
火 – 灬 huǒ – fire 热 煮
田 tián – field 思 留
目 mù – eye 瞎 眨
示 礻 shì – to show 礼 视
糸 mì – fine silk, Used as a radical only, not as a character itself 丝 绸
耳 ěr – ear 取 闻
衣 – yī – clothing 被 裙
言 yán – speech 说 话
走 – 辶 zǒu – to walk 道 近
足 zú – foot 踢 跑
金 – 釒 jīn – metal, gold 钱 银
隹 zhuī – short tailed bird 雀 雁
雨 yǔ – rain 雪 霜
食- shí – to eat 饭 餐