键 (jiàn): key (on a piano or computer keyboard), button (on a mouse or other device), chemical bond

键 (jiàn) is a Chinese character meaning “key (on a piano or computer keyboard).” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 建 (phonetic). It ranks #1462 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 键 metal. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. key (on a piano or computer keyboard)
  2. button (on a mouse or other device)
  3. chemical bond

Etymology & Origin

键

pictophoneticmetal

Decomposition: ⿰钅建 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 键

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
关键noun/adjectiveguān jiàncrucial point4
键盘nounjiàn pánkeyboard5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
关键词nounguān jiàn cíkeyword
按键verbàn jiànbutton or key (on a device)
琴键nounqín jiàna piano key
关键字nounguān jiàn zìkeyword
化学键nounhuà xué jiànchemical bond
快捷键nounkuài jié jiàn(computer) shortcut key
空格键nounkòng gé jiànspace bar (keyboard)
回车键nounhuí chē jiàn(computing) enter key
共价键noungòng jià jiàncovalent bond (chemistry)
离子键nounlí zǐ jiànionic bond (chemistry)
关键绩效指标nounguān jiàn jì xiào zhǐ biāokey performance indicator (KPI)
三键nounsān jiàntriple bond (chemistry)
金属键nounjīn shǔ jiànmetallic bond
上箭头键shàng jiàn tóu jiànup arrow key (on keyboard)
下箭头键xià jiàn tóu jiàndown arrow key (on keyboard)
46
Total compounds
22
As first character
67
As last character
11
As middle character

键 appears in 46 compound words: 22 as the first character, 67 as the last, and 11 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 键 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

关guān
0.63226,424 co-occurrences
盘pán
0.5486,402 co-occurrences
碳tàn
0.4901,354 co-occurrences
骤zhòu
0.422182 co-occurrences
词cí
0.4201,486 co-occurrences
按àn
0.4142,292 co-occurrences
双shuāng
0.4091,534 co-occurrences
械xiè
0.39514 co-occurrences
挥huī
0.391768 co-occurrences
鼠shǔ
0.381406 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

键盘乐器jiànpán yuèqìHSK 5+

keyboard instrument

noun
以慎为键yǐ shèn wéi jiànHSK 5+

to take caution as the key (idiom); to proceed very carefully

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这把键锁已经生锈了,打不开了。

zhè bǎ jiàn suǒ yǐ jīng shēng xiù le , dǎ bù kāi le .

This key lock has rusted shut and won't open.

TvbsFeb 2026

...诡异抖动!命理师惊揭“是他显灵”要警告关键1事

. . . guǐ yì dǒu dòng ! mìng lǐ shī jīng jiē shì tā xiǎn líng yāo jǐng gào guān jiàn 1 shì

... Weird shaking! The numerologist revealed that "it was he who appeared" to warn about one key thing

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

...佳16.6%持股稳赢?律师揭中工夺权2关键:断通路商后路避泰山案

. . . jiā 1 6 . 6 chí gǔ wěn yíng ? lǜ shī jiē zhōng gōng duó quán 2 guān jiàn : duàn tōng lù shāng hòu lù bì tài shān àn

... Jia 16.6% holding a steady win? The lawyer revealed the key to the seizure of power by the workers: the case of cutting off the channel merchant's way to avoid Mount Tai

GvmFeb 2026

过完年后该不该跳槽?先问自己五个“关键问题”

guò wán nián hòu gāi bù gāi tiào cáo ? xiān wèn zì jǐ wǔ gè guān jiàn wèn tí

Should I change jobs after the New Year? Ask yourself five "key questions" first

It之家Feb 2026

...球 95% 人口感染的 EB 病毒取得关键突破,为移植患者带来新希望

. . . qiú 9 5 rén kǒu gǎn rǎn de E B bìng dú qǔ dé guān jiàn tū pò , wéi yí zhí huàn zhě dài lái xīn xī wàng

... A key breakthrough in the Epstein-Barr virus, infected by 95% of the population, brings new hope to transplant patients

BastillepostFeb 2026

脂肪肝不是胖人专利 三类高危族群与改善关键

zhī fáng gān bù shì pàng rén zhuān lì sān lèi gāo wēi zú qún yǔ gǎi shàn guān jiàn

Fatty liver is not the patent of fat people, three types of high-risk groups and the key to improvement

Tatoeba

就像你们知道的那样,毅力是成功的关键。

Jiù xiàng nǐmen zhīdào de nàyàng, yìlì shì chénggōng de guānjiàn.

Perseverance, as you know, is the key to success.

Tatoeba

关键不在穿什么,而是怎么穿。

Guānjiàn bù zài chuān shénme, érshì zěnme chuān.

It's not what you wear, it's how you wear it.

Tatoeba

手指在键盘上快速的移动。

Shǒuzhǐ zài jiànpán shàng kuàisù de yídòng.

The fingers move fast on the keyboard.

Tatoeba

元旦是一年的关键。

Yuándàn shì yī nián de guānjiàn.

New Year's Day is the key to the year.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (metal) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced jiàn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 键 (jiàn) mean in Chinese?
键 (jiàn) primarily means "key (on a piano or computer keyboard)." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #1462 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 键 have?
键 is written with 13 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 键?
The radical associated with 键 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.
What are the components of 键?
键 is composed of: 钅 (semantic), 建 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅建 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 键?
Common words with 键 include: 关键 (guān jiàn, "crucial point"); 键盘 (jiàn pán, "keyboard"); 关键词 (guān jiàn cí, "keyword"); 按键 (àn jiàn, "button or key (on a device)"); 琴键 (qín jiàn, "a piano key"). There are over 46 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 键 (jiàn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jiàn: 间 (room, between), 见 (to see), 件 (item, matter), 建 (to establish), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 键 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 键 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 键 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.