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Flashcards in this deck (210)
  • one [yī]

    radical number common
  • line [shù]

    radical stroke
  • dot [diǎn]

    radical stroke
  • 丿

    slash [piě]

    radical stroke variant:乀/乁
  • second [yǐ]

    radical ordinal variant:乚/乛
  • hook [gōu]

    radical stroke
  • two [èr]

    radical number common
  • lid [tóu]

    radical component
  • person [rén]

    radical noun common variant:亻
  • legs [ér]

    radical body
  • enter [rù]

    radical verb
  • eight [bā]

    radical number variant:丷
  • down box [jiǒng]

    radical enclosure
  • cover [mì]

    radical component
  • ice [bīng]

    radical nature
  • table [jī, jǐ]

    radical object polyphonic
  • open box [qǔ]

    radical enclosure
  • knife [dāo]

    radical tool variant:刂
  • power [lì]

    radical abstract
  • wrap [bāo]

    radical action
  • ladle [bǐ]

    radical object
  • right open box [fāng]

    radical enclosure
  • hiding enclosure [xǐ]

    radical enclosure
  • ten [shí]

    radical number common
  • divination [bǔ]

    radical abstract
  • seal [jié]

    radical object
  • cliff [hàn]

    radical place
  • private [sī]

    radical abstract
  • again [yòu]

    radical adverb
  • mouth [kǒu]

    radical body common
  • enclosure [wéi]

    radical enclosure
  • earth [tǔ]

    radical nature common
  • scholar [shì]

    radical person
  • go [zhī]

    radical action
  • go slowly [suī]

    radical action
  • night [xī]

    radical time nature
  • big [dà]

    radical adjective common
  • woman [nǚ]

    radical person common
  • child [zǐ]

    radical person common
  • roof [mián]

    radical building
  • inch [cùn]

    radical measure
  • small [xiǎo]

    radical adjective common
  • lame [yóu]

    radical variant_尣
  • corpse [shī]

    radical
  • sprout [chè]

    radical
  • mountain [shān]

    radical common
  • river [chuān]

    radical variant_巛 variant_巜
  • work [gōng]

    radical common
  • oneself [jǐ]

    radical
  • towel [jīn]

    radical
  • dry [gān]

    radical
  • thread [yāo]

    radical
  • 广

    shelter [guǎng]

    radical
  • stride [yǐn]

    radical
  • hands joined [gǒng]

    radical
  • shoot with a bow [yì]

    radical
  • bow [gōng]

    radical common
  • snout [jì]

    radical variant_彑
  • hair [shān]

    radical
  • step [chì]

    radical
  • heart [xīn]

    radical variant_忄 core
  • spear [gē]

    radical
  • door [hù]

    radical
  • hand [shǒu]

    radical variant_扌 common
  • branch [zhī]

    radical
  • rap [pū]

    radical variant_攵
  • script [wén]

    radical common
  • dipper [dǒu]

    radical
  • axe [jīn]

    radical
  • square [fāng]

    radical common
  • not [wú]

    radical
  • sun [rì]

    radical common
  • say [yuē]

    radical
  • moon [yuè]

    radical common
  • tree [mù]

    radical common
  • lack [qiàn]

    radical
  • stop [zhǐ]

    radical
  • death [dǎi]

    radical
  • weapon [shū]

    radical
  • mother [mǔ]

    radical variant_毋
  • compare [bǐ]

    radical
  • fur [máo]

    radical
  • clan [shì]

    radical
  • steam [qì]

    radical
  • water [shuǐ]

    radical variant_氵 core
  • fire [huǒ]

    radical variant_灬
  • claw [zhǎo]

    radical variant_爫
  • father [fù]

    radical
  • lines on a trigram [yáo]

    radical
  • half of a tree trunk [q]

    radical
  • slice [piàn]

    radical common
  • tooth [yá]

    radical body
  • cow [niú]

    radical animal
  • dog (variant radical) [quǎn]

    radical variant animal
  • profound [xuán]

    radical abstract
  • jade [yù]

    radical material
  • melon [guā]

    radical food
  • tile [wǎ]

    radical object
  • sweet [gān]

    radical taste
  • life [shēng]

    radical abstract
  • use [yòng]

    radical verb
  • field [tián]

    radical nature
  • cloth [pǐ]

    radical material
  • ill (sickness radical) [bìng]

    radical health
  • foot steps [bō]

    radical action
  • white [bái]

    radical color
  • skin [pí]

    radical body
  • dish [mǐn]

    radical object
  • eye [mù]

    radical body common
  • spear [máo]

    radical weapon
  • arrow [shǐ]

    radical weapon
  • stone [shí]

    radical material common
  • spirit (also 礻 variant) [shì]

    radical variant abstract
  • grain [hé]

    radical food
  • cave [xuè]

    radical place
  • stand [lì]

    radical verb
  • bamboo [zhú]

    radical plant
  • rice [mǐ]

    radical food common
  • silk (糸 variant) [sī]

    radical variant material
  • jar [fǒu]

    radical container
  • net (罒 variant) [wǎng]

    radical variant object
  • sheep [yáng]

    radical animal
  • feather [yǔ]

    radical nature
  • old [lǎo]

    radical adjective
  • and [ér]

    radical conjunction
  • ear [ěr]

    radical body common
  • meat [ròu]

    radical food
  • minister [chén]

    radical official
  • oneself [zì]

    radical pronoun
  • arrive [zhì]

    radical verb
  • tongue [shé]

    radical body
  • contrary [chuǎn]

    radical basic
  • boat [zhōu]

    radical basic
  • mountain (stopping) [gèn]

    radical basic
  • color [sè]

    radical basic
  • grass (radical) [cǎo]

    radical basic
  • tiger [hǔ]

    radical basic
  • insect [chóng]

    radical basic
  • blood [xuè]

    radical basic
  • walk; do [xíng]

    radical basic
  • clothes [yī] (variant: 衤)

    radical basic
  • 西

    west [xī] (variant: 覀)

    radical basic
  • see [jiàn] (variant: 見)

    radical basic
  • horn [jiǎo]

    radical basic
  • speech (radical) [yán] (variant: 言)

    radical basic
  • valley [gǔ]

    radical basic
  • bean [dòu]

    radical basic
  • pig [shǐ]

    radical basic
  • badger (beast) [zhì]

    radical basic
  • shell; money [bèi] (variant: 貝)

    radical basic
  • red [chì]

    radical basic
  • walk [zǒu]

    radical basic
  • foot [zú]

    radical basic
  • body [shēn]

    radical basic
  • cart; vehicle [chē] (variant: 車)

    radical basic
  • bitter [xīn]

    radical basic
  • morning; time [chén]

    radical basic
  • walk; movement (radical) [chuò]

    radical basic
  • city; hamlet [yì] (variant: 阝)

    radical basic
  • wine (radical) [yǒu]

    radical basic
  • distinguish [biàn]

    radical basic
  • village; li (unit) [lǐ]

    radical basic
  • metal (radical) [jīn] (variant: 金)

    radical basic
  • long; grow [cháng] (variant: 長)

    radical basic
  • gate; door [mén] (variant: 門)

    radical basic
  • mound; hill [fù] (variant: 阝)

    radical basic
  • slave; capture [lì]

    radical basic
  • short-tailed bird [zhuī]

    radical basic
  • rain [yǔ]

    radical basic
  • blue; green [qīng]

    radical basic
  • wrong; not [fēi]

    radical basic
  • face; surface [miàn]

    radical basic
  • leather; reform [gé]

    radical basic
  • soft leather [wěi] (variant: 韋)

    radical basic
  • leek [jiǔ]

    radical basic
  • sound [yīn]

    radical noun
  • page [yè]

    radical variant:(頁)
  • wind [fēng]

    radical variant:(風)
  • fly [fēi]

    radical variant:(飛)
  • eat [shí]

    radical variant:飠 variant:食
  • head [shǒu]

    radical noun
  • fragrant [xiāng]

    radical adjective
  • horse [mǎ]

    radical variant:(馬)
  • bone [gǔ]

    radical noun
  • high [gāo]

    radical adjective
  • long hair [biāo]

    radical noun
  • fight [dòu]

    radical variant:(鬥)
  • sacrificial wine [chàng]

    radical cultual
  • cauldron [lì]

    radical noun
  • ghost [guǐ]

    radical noun
  • fish [yú]

    radical variant:(魚)
  • bird [niǎo]

    radical variant:(鳥)
  • salty [lǔ]

    radical adjective
  • 鹿

    deer [lù]

    radical noun
  • wheat [mài]

    radical variant:(麥)
  • hemp [má]

    radical noun
  • yellow [huáng]

    radical adjective
  • millet [shǔ]

    radical noun
  • black [hēi]

    radical adjective
  • embroidery [zhǐ]

    radical noun
  • frog [mǐn]

    radical variant:(黽)
  • tripod [dǐng]

    radical noun
  • drum [gǔ]

    radical noun
  • rat [shǔ]

    radical noun
  • nose [bí]

    radical body_part
  • even [qí]

    radical variant:(齊)
  • 齿

    tooth [chǐ]

    radical variant:(齒)
  • dragon [lóng]

    radical variant:(龍)
  • turtle [guī]

    radical variant:(龜)
  • flute [yuè]

    radical noun
Study Notes

Overview

This document explains how to convert the provided list of 214 Chinese radicals into effective flashcards and how to study them. The original list contains each radical's glyph, English meaning, pinyin, stroke count, and variant; the flashcards should exclude the numeric index and stroke counts as requested.

Flashcard content: required fields

  • Front (prompt): the radical glyph (large, centered). Optionally, show a common variant if it helps recognition.
  • Back (answer): brief, focused information only:
  • English meaning (one short word or phrase).
  • Pinyin (with tone marks, e.g., yī, rén).
  • Common variant(s) if any (e.g., 氵 for 水), listed concisely.
  • 1–2 example characters that use the radical (with translations).
  • Optional mnemonic or short note on typical position (left/right/top/bottom).

Example flashcards (format: Front → Back):

  • Front: 一
  • Back: one · yī · Variant: — · Examples: 一 (one), 一天 (one day)

  • Front: 人

  • Back: person · rén · Variant: 亻 · Examples: 你 (you), 休 (rest)

  • Front: 氵

  • Back: water (radical of water) · shuǐ · Variant: 水 · Examples: 河 (river), 海 (sea)

  • Front: 心

  • Back: heart · xīn · Variant: 忄 · Examples: 想 (think), 怕 (fear)

Note: Do not print the original numbering (1–214) or stroke counts on either side of the cards.

What to exclude and why

  • Exclude the numeric index: it adds no learning value and can create false hierarchy.
  • Exclude stroke counts: they are useful for writing study but were explicitly requested to be omitted from the flashcards; store them separately if needed.

Organizing the 214 radicals for study

  • Group by function/meaning: person-related, body parts, nature (water/fire), containers, animals, plants, direction/position.
  • Group by common variants: collect radicals with common simplified/positioned variants (e.g., 火 → 灬, 水 → 氵, 心 → 忄).
  • Group by frequency: prioritize radicals that appear most often in everyday characters (e.g., 口, 宀, 扌, 氵, 亻).
  • Group by visual similarity: pair easily confused radicals (e.g., 刀 and 刂; 土 and 士) and make comparative cards.

Card creation tips (practical)

  • Keep answers short: one line for meaning + pinyin, one line for variant(s), one line for examples.
  • Use consistent formatting so you can skim cards quickly.
  • For variants, indicate whether the variant is a positional form (left, right, top, bottom).
  • Include one representative example character per radical that learners likely know.
  • If possible, add audio for pinyin or stroke-order GIFs on separate review resources (not required on the text-only card).

Mnemonic and recognition strategies

  • Position cues: many radicals have predictable positions (e.g., 氵 usually left, 宀 on top). Mark that on the back.
  • Semantic grouping: radicals often hint at meaning of characters (氵 → water-related meaning). Use this to infer unknown characters.
  • Visual hooks: create a 3–7 word visual mnemonic linking glyph shape to meaning.
  • Contrast cards: make a card that shows two similar radicals and their distinguishing feature.

Study methods & schedule

  • Use spaced repetition (SRS) — e.g., review new radicals daily, then at expanding intervals.
  • Start by mastering the most frequent ~50 radicals, then expand in batches of 25–50.
  • Combine recognition (radical → meaning) with production (write the radical) in alternate sessions.
  • Do mixed practice: identify radicals inside full characters, not only in isolation.

Advanced usage

  • Create two types of cards for each radical:
  • Recognition card: glyph → meaning/pinyin/variant/examples.
  • Application card: example character → identify radical + explain how meaning connects.
  • Maintain a separate searchable spreadsheet with the full data (glyph, meaning, pinyin, stroke count, variant) for reference—keep stroke counts there if you later want to include handwriting practice.

Common variants and position notes (selected examples)

  • 亻 (variant of 人) — typically appears on the left.
  • 氵 (variant of 水) — left-side form of water.
  • 扌 (variant of 手) — left-side form of hand.
  • 忄 (variant of 心) — left-side form of heart/mind.
  • 灬 (variant of 火) — bottom form of fire.
  • 礻 (variant of 示) — left-side form for spirit/ritual.

Quick checklist before exporting flashcards

  • Remove all numeric indices (1–214) and stroke counts.
  • Ensure pinyin uses tone marks and is correct.
  • Include variants only when they aid recognition.
  • Add 1 example character per card (with English gloss).
  • Keep each back side concise (3–4 short lines).

Example export schema for each card (plain text)

Front: Back: · · Variant: · Example: ()

Final study tips

  • Review radicals in context by reading simple characters and identifying radicals.
  • Use writing practice only after you can reliably recognize radicals.
  • Revisit contrastive pairs frequently to avoid confusion.