Mound Radical (阝) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
阝 is the mound radical. It appears in 36 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 阝 mean?
Mound radical · 阜 fù · 8 strokes · a mound (on the left) or a city (on the right)
As a radical it is called 双耳旁 (shuāng ěr páng).
It usually appears on the left or the right of the character. 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.
12 common characters with 阝
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 那 | nà | that | |
| 都 | dōu | all | 者 supplies the sound |
| 部 | bù | [measure word for machines and vehicles, etc.]; [measure word for books and films, etc.] | 咅 supplies the sound |
| 队 | duì | team; queue | A group of people 人 gathered in one place 阝 |
| 院 | yuàn | courtyard; academy, institute, hospital | 完 supplies the sound |
| 际 | jì | border; edge; boundary; interval; between; inter-; to meet; time; occa… | 示 supplies the sound |
| 随 | suí | along with | To walk 迶 to the city 阝; to follow a path |
| 除 | chú | except, besides | The waste 余 produced by a city 阝 |
| 险 | xiǎn | danger; dangerous; rugged | 佥 supplies the sound |
| 防 | fáng | prevent, guard against; defend | 方 supplies the sound |
| 阶 | jiē | rank or step | 介 supplies the sound |
| 阳 | yáng | positive; Yang (positive) | The place 阝 of the sun 日; compare 阴 |
Related Radicals
- 酉Wine radical · yǒu8 common characters · wine; a wine jar
- 钅Metal radical · jīn26 common characters · gold, metal
- 门Gate radical · mén12 common characters · gate, door
- 隹Short-tailed bird radical · zhuī16 common characters · a short-tailed bird
- 雨Rain radical · yǔ8 common characters · rain
- 青Blue-green radical · qīng8 common characters · blue; green
Create Your Own Chinese Worksheet
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