One Radical (一) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
一 is the one radical. It appears in 72 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 一 mean?
One radical · 一 yī · 1 strokes · one; the horizontal stroke
It usually appears across the top 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.
Shapes: 一
一 itself: Represents heaven (天), earth (旦), or the number 1
12 common characters with 一
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 不 | bù | no, not | A bird flying toward the sky 一 |
| 大 | dà | big, large | A man 人 with outstretched arms |
| 上 | shàng | up, on, in | One stroke on top of another; compare 下 (below) |
| 生 | shēng | give birth to, bear; become (rusty, ill, etc.); light (a fire) | A shoot 屮 growing in the soil 土 |
| 子 | zǐ | son, child | A child in a wrap, with outstretched arms but bundled legs |
| 下 | xià | under, below | One stroke under another; compare 上 (above) |
| 事 | shì | matter, thing | |
| 天 | tiān | [measure word for time] day | The heavens 一 above a man 大 |
| 开 | kāi | open; operate, drive (car), turn on (light); start (business); hold (meeting, party, etc.); (water) boil; write (cheque); (flower) blossom | Simplified form of 開; hands 廾 lifting the latch 一 of a door |
| 前 | qián | before; in front of | |
| 长 | cháng | long | Simplified form of 長; an old man with long hair and a cane |
| 两 | liǎng | two | Two people 从 together in a cart |
Related Radicals
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