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30 Easy Chinese Characters To
30 Easy Chinese Characters To
fluentu.com/blog/chinese/2016/08/31/easy-chinese-characters/
What are the easiest words you can pick up as you begin your Chinese learning journey?
Below are some of the most basic, commonly used characters in Chinese, the ones having the least number of character strokes.
Because they have so few strokes, these are some of the simplest words to write in Chinese. You’ll find them easy to remember as well, since some of
the characters actually resemble their meaning.
Plus, we’ll give you tons of more advanced vocabulary that build from these easy characters.
1. 一 (yī)
English: One
Incidentally, the characters for two 二 (èr) and three 三 (sān) are also simple horizontal strokes. One, two and three are quite easy to remember, since one
is one stroke, two is two strokes, etc.
One in Chinese is used in references to the singular, such as a single person 一个人(yī gè rén). For example:
2. 人 (rén)
English: Man
The Chinese character for “man” is two simple strokes. The character looks like a person with legs apart.
When you put two of these characters together, producing 人人 (rén rén), the meaning is “everyone.” For example:
3. 日 (rì)
English: Sun
The character for “sun” looks like a box with a line in the middle. It’s supposed to approximate the image of the sun. You might have to use a little
imagination, but in ancient bronze script, this character was more circular like the sun.
日 not only refers to the Earth’s source of light, but it also means “day.” It’s used when talking about dates, e.g. 7日 is the seventh day of whatever month
you’re talking about. If you put two sun characters together 日日 (rì rì) it means “every day.”
4. 月 (yuè)
English: Moon
The character for “moon” originally resembled a crescent. If you look at theoracle bone script you’ll see what I mean.
月 not only refers to the nightly crescent, but it also means “month.” For example, 8月 7日 is how you’d write “August 7.”
You can write all the months in Chinese simply by putting a numeral (or Chinese character if you like—either works) in front of 月. Here are the names of
January through March:
1月
2月
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3月
5. 山 (shān)
English: Mountain
Can you tell that this character looks like a mountain range? Check out the ancient script, and you’ll see thatit has much closer resemblance.
When combined with other characters, it means even more things related to nature and scenery. For example, when combined with the character for
“water,” 水 (shǔi), you get 山水 (shān shǔi), which means “landscape.”
Therefore 山水画 (shān shǔi huà) refers to a landscape painting. Check out how the character for “painting” or “drawing,” 画(huà), looks like a little picture
in a frame!
6. 水 (shǔi)
English: Water
The character for “water” resembles a drip with some splashes. It was much more watery-lookingthousands of years ago.
To make use of another character we already learned (一), “one glass of water” is 一杯水 (yī bēi shǔi). To ask for a glass of water, you could say:
7. 大 (dà)
English: Big
See how the character for “big” looks like a person with arms and legs spread wide?
When we combine 大 with another character we just learned (人) we get 大人 (dà rén) which means “adult,” or literally, “big man.” However, FYI, a child
isn’t called “little man.”
You could describe a big mountain as 大山 (dà shān). This, of course, is also the name of famous Chinese-speaking comedianMark Roswell.
8. 小 (xiǎo)
English: Small
Since we learned “big,” we have to learn its opposite, 小.Can you guess what “elementary school” is in Chinese? It’s 小学(xiǎo xué) or “little school.”
Note that 小 (xiǎo) only refers to size. When we talk about small amounts, we say 少(shǎo).
9. 口 (kǒu)
English: Mouth
The character for “mouth” looks just like an opening. Here are some common phrases that use this character:
10. 火 (hǔo)
English: Fire
Check out this flaming character’s evolution from the bone script version. Very cool. Here are some ways to use this character:
大火 (dà hǔo) big flame and 小火 (xiǎo hǔo) small flame, refer to heat levels for cooking; you might see these in recipes
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11. 男 (nán)
English: Boy
The character for “boy” is actually the combination of 田 (tián) farm and 力 (lì) work, referring to how traditionally men worked the land. You’ll see this
character on the door of public washrooms. Here are a couple more instances using this character:
12. 女 (nǚ)
English: Girl
This character kind of looks like a lady with her legs crossed. Check out its interestingevolution throughout history. Here are two examples of how to use
this character:
13. 天 (tiān)
English: Sky
Notice how the shape of this character points upwards, towards the sky. Two of these characters together 天天(tiān tiān) means “every day” as well.
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The four seasons are written as:
There’s also:
14. 牛 (níu)
English: Cow
This character looks like an animal with horns. Here are a couple ways we use this character:
牛比 (níu bǐ) awesome; we’re not sure what cows have to do with awesomeness, but maybe it’s kind of like “holy cow!” in English.
15. 马 (mǎ)
English: Horse
The horse character resembles an animal with running legs and a long neck. It went through several iterations throughout history. Here are two more
common uses of this character:
16. 羊 (yáng)
English: Sheep
Do you think this character looks like an animal with antlers? Here’s how we use this character:
17. 木 (mù)
English: Wood
This nature-associated character resembles a tree. Here are two examples of associated vocabulary:
18. 工 (gōng)
English: Work
This I-beam character appears in many work-related terms as well. Here’s where you might see it:
19. 开 (kāi)
English: Open
This word can also mean “to start.” We use this character in these ways:
20. 心 (xīn)
English: Heart
We’re not totally sure, but perhaps this character looks a little like the organ it refers to. What do you think? Here’s how to use this character:
21. 门 (mén)
English: Door
This character does bear a striking resemblance to a doorway, doesn’t it? Here are a couple more uses of this character:
22. 不 (bù)
English: No
Although this character means “no,” we don’t usually use it by itself. We usually say 不是(bù shì) for “no” and “not correct” or 不好 (bù hǎo) for“no” or “not
good.”
不少 (bù shǎo) literally translates to “not few,” and so in other words means “a lot.”
23. 十 (shí)
English: Ten
Ten in Chinese is a very versatile word. For example, 十分 (shí fēn) means “very much.”
In counting, all the teen digits use ten as the base, that is:
Furthermore, 20 is 二十 (èr shí) or “two tens,” 30 is 三十 (sān shí) “three tens,” 50 is 五十 (wǔ shí) and the pattern continues like this until you reach 90,
which is 九十 (jǐu shí).
But just so you know, 100 is not “ten-tens,” it’s just 一百 (yī bǎi).
24. 手 (shǒu)
English: Hand
Can you guess how this character resembles its meaning? Check out the lines in the palm of your hand! Here are more ways to use this character:
25. 王 (wáng)
English: King
Wang 王 (wáng) is a popular last name; for example 王力宏 (wáng lì hóng) Leehom Wang is the name of a popular singer and actor.
26. 米 (mǐ)
English: Rice
Now for the word that refers to the food staple and the Chinese cultural icon! Here are more cases of the character for “rice”:
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玉米 (yù mǐ) corn
27. 生 (shēng)
English: Birth
The word “birth” also refers to life and the start of something. Here are some of the many ways to use it:
先生 (xiān shēng) mister; e.g. 王先生 (wáng xiān shēng) Mr. Wang
28. 中 (zhōng)
English: Center
This is an important character because it’s part of China’s name. It also looks like what it means: a line through the center of something. You’ll see this
character used in these ways, among others:
29. 上 (shàng)
English: Up
Three strokes make up this character that looks like it’s pointing up. This character also refers to attending something or going somewhere. Here’s how
we use it:
爱上 (ài shàng) fall in love; note that in Chinese, we don’t “fall” in love with someone, we love “upon” someone!
30. 下 (xià)
English: Down
This simple character looks like a downward arrow. It also refers to leaving or getting off someplace.
This solid list of easy Chinese characters should get you well on your way to becoming a language superstar!
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