点 (diǎn): point, o'clock

点 (diǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “point, o'clock.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 占 (phonetic) and 灬 (semantic). It ranks #128 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 点 fire. Its radical form 灬 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 热 (rè, hot, to heat), 然 (rán, nature, thus), 照 (zhào, shine, according to).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. point, o'clock

Etymology & Origin

点

pictophoneticfire

Decomposition: ⿱占灬 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Practice writing 点 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 点

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
地点noundì diǎnplace3
有一点儿adverbyǒu yī diǎn ra bit1
有点儿adverbyǒu diǎn rslightly1
重点noun/adverbchóng diǎnto recount (e.g. results of election)4
观点nounguān diǎnpoint of view5
一点儿numeral-measureyī diǎn rerhua variant of 一點|一点1
晚点verbwǎn diǎn(of trains etc) late3
弱点nounruò diǎnweak point6
终点nounzhōng diǎnthe end6
点心noundiǎn xinlight refreshments5
点燃verbdiǎn ránto ignite6
焦点nounjiāo diǎn(lit. and fig.) focal point6
缺点nounquē diǎnweak point4
优点nounyōu diǎnmerit4
特点nountè diǎncharacteristic4
起点nounqǐ diǎnstarting point6
差点儿adjective/adverbchà diǎn rerhua variant of 差點|差点4
点头verbdiǎn tóuto nod4
要点nounyào diǎnmain point6
点名verbdiǎn míngroll call4
百分点nounbǎi fēn diǎnpercentage point6
热点nounrè diǎnhot spot6
点击verbdiǎn jīto hit6
点赞verbdiǎn zànto like5
景点nounjǐng diǎntourist attraction4
差一点儿adjective/adverbchà yī diǎn rerhua variant of 差一點|差一点4
难点nounnán diǎndifficulty6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
一点adjectiveyī diǎna bit
有点adverbyǒu diǎna little
点儿noundiǎn rerhua variant of 點|点
差点adverbchà diǎnalmost
点子diǎn zispot
早点adverbzǎo diǎnbreakfast
共同点noungòng tóng diǎncommon ground
点火verbdiǎn huǒto ignite
支点nounzhī diǎnfulcrum (for a lever)
污点nounwū diǎnstain
正点adjectivezhèng diǎn(of a train etc) on time
107
Total compounds
25
As first character
67
As last character
7
As middle character

点 appears in 107 compound words: 25 as the first character, 67 as the last, and 7 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 点 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

终zhōng
0.53526,254 co-occurrences
重chóng
0.49162,282 co-occurrences
观guān
0.48339,485 co-occurrences
沸fèi
0.4761,674 co-occurrences
节jié
0.45916,432 co-occurrences
顶dǐng
0.4335,750 co-occurrences
居jū
0.43319,492 co-occurrences
斑bān
0.4313,790 co-occurrences
优yōu
0.4296,044 co-occurrences
晨chén
0.4255,028 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (14)

标点符号biāodiǎn fúhàoHSK 4+

punctuation mark

noun
差一点儿chàyīdiǎnrHSK 3+

erhua form of 差一點/差一点 (chàyīdiǎn, “almost; nearly”)

adverb
点点滴滴diǎndiǎndīdīHSK 6+

bits and pieces; dribs and drabs; every bit of; everything; bit by bit; little by little

nounadverb
点睛之笔diǎnjīngzhībǐHSK 4+

the finishing touch to a painting; the crucial point that brings the subject to life

phrase
点水不漏diǎn shuǐ bù lòuHSK 5+

not one drop of water leaks (idiom); fig. thoughtful and completely rigorous; watertight

phrase
点头哈腰diǎntóuhāyāoHSK 5+

to uncritically and enthusiastically support someone; (specifically) to be excessively but superficially obsequious

phrase
画龙点睛huàlóngdiǎnjīngHSK 5+

something one step away from perfection; to put on the finishing touches

phrase
可圈可点kěquānkědiǎnHSK 6+

praiseworthy; remarkable; commendable; doubtful; needing careful consideration

phrase
蜻蜓点水qīng tíng diǎn shuǐ

lit. the dragonfly touches the water lightly; superficial contact (idiom)

phrase
煽风点火shānfēngdiǎnhuǒHSK 7+

to incite and stir up trouble

phrase
演出地点yǎn chū dì diǎnHSK 3+

performance place; CL:處|处

phrase
一点一滴yīdiǎnyīdīHSK 6+

every little bit; bit by bit

phrase

Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 点.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

会议定在下午三点开始,请大家提前十分钟到场。

Huìyì dìng zài xiàwǔ sān diǎn kāishǐ, qǐng dàjiā tíqián shí fēnzhōng dàochǎng.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 3 PM; please arrive ten minutes early.

百度新闻Feb 2026

河北男孩放寒假每天睡到中午12点,爸爸不许家人打扰..

hé běi nán hái fàng hán jiǎ měi tiān shuì dào zhōng wǔ 1 2 diǎn , bà bà bù xǔ jiā rén dǎ rǎo . .

Hebei boy slept until 12 noon every day during the winter vacation, and his father did not allow his family to disturb him:

百度新闻Feb 2026

新春走基层|网球传奇齐聚上海,精彩球技点燃新春佳节

xīn chūn zǒu jī céng wǎng qiú chuán qí qí jù shàng hǎi , jīng cǎi qiú jì diǎn rán xīn chūn jiā jié

Tennis legends gathered in Shanghai, and their wonderful skills ignited the Spring Festival

百度新闻Feb 2026

...热水赠归人 一句感谢显温情 环兰高速人:点滴之..

. . . rè shuǐ zèng guī rén yī gōu gǎn xiè xiǎn wēn qíng huán lán gāo sù rén diǎn dī zhī . .

... Hot water for the returnees A word of thanks to show the warmth of the Huanlan Expressway people: a little bit of ...

百度新闻Feb 2026

点亮中国红!英国地标伦敦眼披上中国春节装扮

diǎn liàng zhōng guó hóng ! yīng guó dì biāo lún dūn yǎn pī shǎng zhōng guó chūn jié zhuāng bàn

Light Up China Red! London Eye Dons Chinese New Year Decorations

百度新闻Feb 2026

新华视点|福建:实体书店变身“文化会客厅” 全民...

xīn huá shì diǎn fú jiàn shí tī shū diàn biàn shēn wén huā huì kè tīng quán mín . . .

Xinhua Insight | Fujian: Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores Transform into "Cultural Living Rooms," Embracing the Public...

Tatoeba

你能再给我点茶吗?

Nǐ néng zài gěi wǒ diǎn chá ma?

Would you please give me some more tea?

Tatoeba

你明早7点来接我吗?

Nǐ míngzǎo qī diǎn lái jiē wǒ ma?

Are you picking me up at 7 tomorrow morning?

Tatoeba

你不和我一起喝点茶吗?

Nǐ bù hé wǒ yīqǐ hē diǎn chá ma?

Won't you have some tea with me?

Tatoeba

你可以说慢一点吗?

Nǐ kěyǐ shuō màn yīdiǎn ma?

Could you speak more slowly?

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 灬 (fire) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced diǎn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 点 (diǎn) mean in Chinese?
点 (diǎn) primarily means "point, o'clock." It is classified as HSK Level 1, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #128 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 点 and 战?
点 (diǎn) and 战 (zhàn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 灬 vs 戈 (same 占 component).
How many strokes does 点 have?
点 is written with 9 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 点?
The radical associated with 点 is 灬 (fire). This radical appears in many characters related to fire.
What are the components of 点?
点 is composed of: 占 (phonetic), 灬 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱占灬 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 点?
Common words with 点 include: 一点 (yī diǎn, "a bit"); 有点 (yǒu diǎn, "a little"); 点儿 (diǎn r, "erhua variant of 點|点"); 差点 (chà diǎn, "almost"); 地点 (dì diǎn, "place"). There are over 107 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 点 (diǎn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation diǎn: 店 (shop), 电 (lightning), 典 (canon). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 点 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 点 and the traditional form is 點.

Practice writing 点 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.