(jiàn): item, matter

(jiàn) is a Chinese character meaning “item, matter.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #250 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a man 亻 dividing up a cow 牛. Its radical form (person) appears in many related characters such as (rén, person), (shén, what), (jīn, now).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. item, matter

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA man 亻 dividing up a cow 牛

Decomposition: ⿰亻牛 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounshì jiànincident5
nounwén jiàndocument4
nountiáo jiàncondition4
nounyóu jiànmail3
nounzhèng jiàncertificate4
nounruǎn jiàn(computer) software5
nounyìng jiànhardware5
nounfù jiànappendix (in a document)6
稿noungǎo jiànpiece of writing submitted for publication6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
àn jiàncase
líng jiànpart
xìn jiànletter (sent by mail)
bù jiànpart
fù yìn jiànphotocopy
wú tiáo jiànunconditional
wén jiàn jiāfolder
wù jiànobject
yuán jiànthe original
pèi jiàncomponent
yuán jiànelement
zǔ jiànmodule
líng bù jiànspare part
jī jiàncomponent (mechanics)
bì yào tiáo jiànrequirement
100
Total compounds
2
As first character
84
As last character
14
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 2 as the first character, 84 as the last, and 14 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

shì
0.6941,112,754 co-occurrences
ruǎn
0.684144,956 co-occurrences
àn
0.597268,668 co-occurrences
tiáo
0.595185,136 co-occurrences
líng
0.52858,104 co-occurrences
qiè
0.50710,974 co-occurrences
yìng
0.47839,672 co-occurrences
wén
0.474321,024 co-occurrences
chèn
0.46018 co-occurrences
yóu
0.45227,451 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (8)

bìyào tiáojiànHSK 3+

necessary condition

noun
diàn zǐ wén jiànHSK 1+

electronic document

phrase
diànzǐ yóujiànHSK 3+

e-mail

noun
jī mì wén jiànHSK 4+

secret document

phrase
jìjiàn gōngzīHSK 4+

piece rate

noun
Liù-Sì ShìjiànHSK 1+

June Fourth Incident

táo sè àn jiànHSK 5+

case involving sex scandal (law)

phrase
xiānjué tiáojiànHSK 3+

prerequisite; presupposition; precondition

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

事需要尽快处理,否则会影响整个项目进度。

Zhè jiàn shì xūyào jǐnkuài chǔlǐ, fǒuzé huì yǐngxiǎng zhěnggè xiàngmù jìndù.

This matter needs to be handled quickly, otherwise it will affect the entire project progress.

Hk01.comFeb 2026

...獲過百粉絲支持 忠粉力撐:唔覺得係咩好大

. . . 獲 過 bǎi fěn 絲 zhī chí zhōng fěn lì 撐 唔 覺 dé 係 咩 hǎo dà jiàn shì

...has received support from over a hundred fans. Loyal fans are backing it, saying, "We don't think it's a big deal."

InvestingFeb 2026

电商转型对软/AI过渡的启示

diàn shāng zhuǎn xíng duì ruǎn jiàn guò dù de qǐ shì

Implications of E-commerce Transformation for Software/AI Transition

三立新聞網Feb 2026

藍白要質詢總統!潘孟安最速函文立院

藍 bái yāo 質 詢 總 統 ! pān mèng ān zuì sù jiàn hán wén lì yuàn

Blue-White Alliance to Interrogate President! Pan Meng-an Submits Urgent Letter to Legislative Yuan

经济观察网-首页Feb 2026

“涨价”策略失灵叠加“黑天鹅”事,雀巢忙“瘦身”自救

zhǎng jià cè lüè shī líng dié jiā hēi tiān é shì jiàn , qiāo cháo máng shòu shēn zì jiù

The "price increase" strategy fails to superimpose the "black swan" event, Nestle busy "thinning" self-help

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

春節連假最後一天 國道事故34、局部路段回堵

chūn 節 連 jiǎ zuì 後 yī tiān 國 dào shì gù jiàn jú bù lù duàn huí dǔ

The last day of the Spring Festival holiday 34 accidents on national highways, local traffic jams

Tatoeba

你觉得这毛衣怎么样?

Nǐ juéde zhè jiàn máoyī zěnmeyàng?

What do you think of this sweater?

Tatoeba

你想要这衬衫吗?

Nǐ xiǎngyào zhè jiàn chènshān ma?

Do you want this shirt?

Tatoeba

你有没有电子邮地址?

Nǐ yǒuméiyǒu diànzǐyóujiàn dìzhǐ?

Do you have an e-mail address?

Tatoeba

你从哪儿弄来的钱去买那衣服?

Nǐ cóng nǎr nòng lái de qián qù mǎi nà jiàn yīfu?

Where did you get the money to buy that dress?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced jiàn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 件 (jiàn) mean in Chinese?
件 (jiàn) primarily means "item, matter." It is classified as HSK Level 1, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #250 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 件 have?
件 is written with 6 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 件?
The radical associated with 件 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.
What are the components of 件?
件 is composed of: 亻 (structural), 牛 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻牛 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 件?
Common words with 件 include: 事件 (shì jiàn, "incident"); 文件 (wén jiàn, "document"); 案件 (àn jiàn, "case"); 条件 (tiáo jiàn, "condition"); 邮件 (yóu jiàn, "mail"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 件 (jiàn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jiàn: 坚 (strong), 间 (room, between), 肩 (shoulder), 减 (to lower), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 件 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 件 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.