式 (shì): type, form, pattern

式 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “type.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 弋 (structural) and 工 (structural). It ranks #303 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 式 a craftsman using an awl 弋 and a measuring square 工. Its radical form 弋 (shoot) appears in many related characters.

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. type
  2. form
  3. pattern

Etymology & Origin

式

ideographicA craftsman using an awl 弋 and a measuring square 工

Decomposition: ⿹弋工 (layout: surround-from-upper-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 式

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
方式nounfāng shìway4
正式adjectivezhèng shìformal4
仪式nounyí shìceremony6
形式nounxíng shìouter appearance5
模式nounmó shìmode5
款式nounkuǎn shìpattern6
开幕式nounkāi mù shìopening ceremony5
样式nounyàng shìtype5
闭幕式nounbì mù shìclosing ceremony5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
老式nounlǎo shìold-fashioned
法式nounfǎ shìrule
程式nounchéng shìform
非正式adjectivefēi zhèng shìunofficial
方程式nounfāng chéng shì(math.) equation
公式noungōng shìformula
各式各样adjectivegè shì gè yàng(of) all kinds and sorts
新式adjectivexīn shìnew style
英式adjectiveyīng shìBritish-style
首映式shǒu yìng shìpremiere of a movie
喷气式adjectivepēn qì shìjet-propelled
格式noungé shìform
分子式nounfēn zǐ shìmolecular formula
式样nounshì yàngstyle
旧式adjectivejiù shìold style
101
Total compounds
3
As first character
90
As last character
7
As middle character

式 appears in 101 compound words: 3 as the first character, 90 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 式 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

形xíng
0.604198,474 co-occurrences
正zhèng
0.591471,835 co-occurrences
株zhū
0.58429,364 co-occurrences
模mó
0.559153,460 co-occurrences
仪yí
0.52135,859 co-occurrences
方fāng
0.495322,975 co-occurrences
程chéng
0.45478,496 co-occurrences
幕mù
0.43921,772 co-occurrences
格gé
0.40455,266 co-occurrences
招zhāo
0.39711,940 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (7)

各式各样gèshìgèyàngHSK 4+

all kinds and sorts; various

adjective
花式滑冰huā shì huá bīngHSK 5+

(Tw) figure skating

phrase
花式溜冰huāshì liūbīngHSK 7+

figure skating

noun
链式反应liànshì fǎnyìngHSK 6+

chain reaction

noun
因式分解yīn shì fēn jiěHSK 4+

factorization

phrase
株式会社zhūshì huìshèHSK 6+

Joint-stock company

noun
奏鸣曲式zòumíngqǔshìHSK 7+

sonata form

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我在字典里查到了式字的详细解释。

wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le shì zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .

I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "式" in the dictionary.

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

2026年米兰-科尔蒂纳冬奥会闭幕式正式开始

2 0 2 6 nián mǐ lán kē ěr dì nà dōng ào huì bì mù shì zhèng shì kāi shǐ

The closing ceremony of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics has officially begun

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

(米兰冬奥会)谷爱凌、李方慧摘得自由式滑雪女子U池金、银牌

( mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) gǔ ài líng , lǐ fāng huì zhāi dé zì yóu shì huá xuě nǚ zǐ U chí jīn , yín pái

(Milan Winter Olympics) Gu Ailing and Li Fanghui won gold and silver medals in the women's U pool in freestyle skiing

百度新闻Feb 2026

在米兰,冰雪赛场藏着中国式浪漫

zài mǐ lán , bīng xuě sài chǎng zàng zhe zhōng guó shì làng màn

In Milan, the ice and snow arena hides Chinese romance

百度新闻Feb 2026

自由式滑雪男子U型场地技巧预赛结束 4名中国选...

zì yóu shì huá xuě nán zǐ U xíng chǎng dì jì qiǎo yù sài jié shù 4 míng zhōng guó xuǎn . . .

Freestyle skiing men's halfpipe skills preliminaries ended with 4 Chinese selections...

百度新闻Feb 2026

【城事】外滩开关式人墙再次启用,分流客流确保平台上..

chéng shì wài tān kāi guān shì rén qiáng zài cì qǐ yòng , fēn liú kè liú què bǎo píng tái shàng . .

【City Affairs】The Bund switch-type human wall is used again to divert passenger flow to ensure that the platform is ensured:

Tatoeba

你最喜欢用什么方式煮马铃薯?

Nǐ zuì xǐhuan yòng shénme fāngshì zhǔ mǎlíngshǔ?

What's your favorite way to cook potatoes?

Tatoeba

死是唯一的解脱方式吗?

Sǐ shì wéiyī de jiětuō fāngshì ma?

Is death the only possible exemption?

Tatoeba

什么是格式塔疗法?

Shénme shì Géshìtǎ liáofǎ?

What is Gestalt Therapy?

Tatoeba

你会参加这个仪式吗?

Nǐ huì cānjiā zhège yíshì ma?

Will you take part in the ceremony?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced shì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 式 (shì) mean in Chinese?
式 (shì) primarily means "type." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #303 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 式 have?
式 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 式?
The radical associated with 式 is 弋 (shoot). This radical appears in many characters related to shoot.
What are the components of 式?
式 is composed of: 弋 (structural), 工 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿹弋工 with a surround-from-upper-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 式?
Common words with 式 include: 方式 (fāng shì, "way"); 正式 (zhèng shì, "formal"); 仪式 (yí shì, "ceremony"); 形式 (xíng shì, "outer appearance"); 模式 (mó shì, "mode"). There are over 101 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 式 (shì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation shì: 是 (is, yes), 时 (time, hour), 事 (matter), 实 (real, practical), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 式 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 式 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 式 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.