Gate Radical (门) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
门 is the gate radical. It appears in 12 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 门 mean?
Gate radical · 门 mén · 3 strokes · gate, door
It usually appears enclosing the character from above and the sides. 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.
门 itself: An open doorway or gate
12 common characters with 门
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 们 | men | [plural marker for pronouns and some animate nouns] | 门 supplies the sound |
| 问 | wèn | ask | 门 supplies the sound |
| 间 | jiān | [measure word for rooms] | The sun 日 shining through a doorway 门 |
| 闻 | wén | smell; hear | 门 supplies the sound |
| 闹 | nào | make noise or disturbance; give vent to (anger, etc.); be troubled with; | As busy as the market 市 gate 门 |
| 闭 | bì | close | A door 门 blocked by bars 才 |
| 闲 | xián | free, idle | A wooden fence 木 with a door 门 |
| 闪 | shǎn | flash, flicker; dodge | A man 人 just glimpsed through a door 门 |
| 阔 | kuò | rich | 活 supplies the sound |
| 阅 | yuè | to inspect; to review; to read; to peruse; to go through; to experience | |
| 阁 | gé | pavilion (usu. two-storied); cabinet (politics); boudoir; woman's cham… | 各 supplies the sound |
| 闯 | chuǎng | rush, dash; break in | A horse 马 charging through a gate 门 |
Related Radicals
- 辶Go radical · chuò53 common characters · to walk, to go; movement
- 酉Wine radical · yǒu8 common characters · wine; a wine jar
- 钅Metal radical · jīn26 common characters · gold, metal
- 阝Mound radical · fù36 common characters · a mound (on the left) or a city (on the right)
- 隹Short-tailed bird radical · zhuī16 common characters · a short-tailed bird
- 雨Rain radical · yǔ8 common characters · rain
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.