Eight Radical (八) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
八 is the eight radical. It appears in 44 of the most common Chinese characters — these 12 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 八 mean?
Eight radical · 八 bā · 2 strokes · eight; a pair dividing left and right
It usually appears at the top (丷), or on both sides (八). 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.
八 itself: Two bent lines meaning "to divide"
12 common characters with 八
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 来 | lái | [preceding a verb to indicate the intended or suggested action] | A wheat plant that has not yet borne fruit; compare 來 |
| 小 | xiǎo | small, little | Dividing 八 by a line 亅 |
| 前 | qián | before; in front of | |
| 分 | fēn | divide, separate, differentiate; distribute | Pieces 八 being further subdivided with a knife 刀 |
| 公 | gōng | public; official business; father-in-law | To divide 八 what is private 厶 |
| 其 | qí | [third person singular or plural] his, her, its, their; that, such | |
| 关 | guān | close, shut; turn off; concern, involve; shut in, lock up; (business) close down | |
| 只 | zhī | only | Simple words 八 coming from the mouth 口 |
| 总 | zǒng | always; anyway, certainly; sooner or later | Many mouths 口 speaking with one mind 心 |
| 产 | chǎn | produce, yield; reproduce | 厂 supplies the sound |
| 平 | píng | flat, level, even; calm; average, common | A leveling scale |
| 并 | bìng | and, besides | Simplified form of 並; two men standing side-by-side |
Related Radicals
- 亠Lid radical26 common characters · the dot-and-line “lid” on top of a character
- 亻Person radical · rén115 common characters · person; people
- 儿Legs radical · ér10 common characters · son; a pair of legs
- 冂Frame radical · jiōng18 common characters · an open frame; borders
- 冖Cover radical · mì18 common characters · a cover
- 冫Ice radical · bīng14 common characters · ice; cold
Create Your Own Chinese Worksheet
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