Small Radical (小) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
小 is the small 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.
Free · No sign-up · US Letter PDF
What does 小 mean?
Small radical · 小 xiǎo · 3 strokes · small
It usually appears at the bottom, or on 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.
Shapes: 小
小 itself: Dividing 八 by a line 亅
12 common characters with 小
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 少 | shǎo | few, rare | Grains of sand; 小 provides the pronunciation and meaning |
| 东 | dōng | east | Simplified form of 東, the sun 日 rising behind a tree 木 |
| 亲 | qīn | close, intimate | A tree 木 bearing fruit 立 |
| 乐 | lè | happy, joyful | Simplified form of 樂, a musical instrument with wood 木, strings 幺, and a pick 白 |
| 示 | shì | show | An altar |
| 京 | jīng | capital city of a country; big; algebraic term for a large number (old… | A capital building on a hill |
| 尖 | jiān | pointed; shrill; sharp, acute | A point, small 小 over big 大 |
| 叔 | shū | uncle; father's younger brother; husband's younger brother; Taiwan pr. | The smaller 小 brother |
| 孙 | sūn | grandson; descendant | Simplified form of 孫; a chain 系 of descent 子 |
| 尔 | ěr | thus | |
| 尘 | chén | dust; dirt; earth | Small 小 flakes of earth 土 |
| 雀 | què | (bound form) small bird; sparrow; also pr. | A small 小 bird 隹 |
Related Radicals
- 子Child radical · zǐ14 common characters · child; seed
- 宀Roof radical · mián39 common characters · a roof
- 寸Inch radical · cùn23 common characters · inch; a hand measuring
- 尸Corpse radical · shī15 common characters · corpse; a lying figure
- 山Mountain radical · shān14 common characters · mountain
- 工Work radical · gōng16 common characters · work, craft
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.