Heart Radical (忄) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
忄 is the heart radical. It appears in 77 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 忄 mean?
Heart radical · 心 xīn · 4 strokes · heart, mind
As a radical it is called 竖心旁 (shù xīn páng).
It usually appears at the bottom (心), or on the left (忄). 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.
心 itself: A heart
12 common characters with 忄
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 想 | xiǎng | think | 相 supplies the sound |
| 意 | yì | meaning, idea; intention, desire | 音 supplies the sound |
| 情 | qíng | feeling, passion, sentiment; condition, situation | 青 supplies the sound |
| 性 | xìng | property, disposition; sex | 生 supplies the sound |
| 总 | zǒng | always; anyway, certainly; sooner or later | Many mouths 口 speaking with one mind 心 |
| 感 | gǎn | feel | Two hearts 心 beating together 咸 |
| 思 | sī | think | Weighing something with your mind 囟 (altered) and heart 心 |
| 怎 | zěn | how, why | 乍 supplies the sound |
| 快 | kuài | fast, quick | A decisive 夬 will 忄; 夬 also provides the pronunciation |
| 必 | bì | must, certainly | |
| 念 | niàn | read aloud; think of, miss; attend school | To keep the present 今 in mind 心 |
| 息 | xī | (bank) interest; breath; news | To breathe (life, 心) through one's nose 自; 心 also provides the pronunciation |
Related Radicals
- 彐Snout radical14 common characters · a snout; a pig's head
- 彡Stripe radical · shān8 common characters · hair, stripes, patterns
- 彳Step radical · chì17 common characters · small steps; to walk
- 戈Dagger-axe radical · gē13 common characters · a dagger-axe (ancient weapon)
- 户Door radical · hù11 common characters · a single door; a household
- 扌Hand radical · shǒu131 common characters · hand
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