Divination Radical (卜) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
卜 is the divination radical. It appears in 9 of the most common Chinese characters — these 9 are the ones worth learning first, and the worksheet below gives every one of them a pinyin header, a stroke-by-stroke model and blank Tianzige grids to copy into.
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What does 卜 mean?
Divination radical · 卜 bǔ · 2 strokes · divination; forecasting
It usually appears on the left, at the top, or on the right. The Origin column below shows what each character's parts do — many take their meaning from the radical, some take their sound from the other half.
Shapes: 卜
卜 itself: A crack on an oracle bone
9 common characters with 卜
Ranked by how often they appear in real written Chinese. Every character links to its own page with a stroke-order animation and example words.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 下 | xià | under, below | One stroke under another; compare 上 (above) |
| 外 | wài | outside | Night-time 夕 divinations 卜; the supernatural, the foreign |
| 处 | chù | place; department | To go somewhere 夂 and put down a flag 卜 |
| 补 | bǔ | mend, repair; make up for | 卜 supplies the sound |
| 卡 | kǎ | card | A card squeezed between 上 and 下 |
| 赴 | fù | leave for, go to | 卜 supplies the sound |
| 扑 | pū | rush at; throw oneself into, be bent on; flap | 卜 supplies the sound |
| 卧 | wò | to lie; to crouch | A person 卜 (altered form of 人) laying in bed 臣 |
| 朴 | pǔ | (bound form) plain; simple; Taiwan pr. | 卜 supplies the sound |
Related Radicals
- 力Force radical · lì28 common characters · force, strength
- 匕Dagger radical · bǐ11 common characters · spoon; dagger
- 十Ten radical · shí33 common characters · ten; a cross shape
- 厂Cliff radical · hǎn19 common characters · a cliff; a shelter slope
- 厶Private radical · sī17 common characters · private; personal
- 又Again radical · yòu38 common characters · again; (originally) a right hand
Create Your Own Chinese Worksheet
The download above is fixed; the generator is not. Turn any character list, sentence or textbook section into a printable worksheet — grid style, paper size and header are yours to pick.