鱼

Fish Radical (鱼)

yú · 8 strokes

The fish radical (鱼) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 7 characters related to fish and associated concepts. 7 characters: 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 3, 1 in HSK 6, 4 in HSK 7-9. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).

Radical vs. Component: 鱼 is also a character component. As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For component-specific details including role analysis and position patterns, see the Fish Component (鱼) page.

Fish Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count8
Total Characters7
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (4 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes14
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Fish Radical Characters

HSK 2 (1 characters)

鱼yúfish

HSK 3 (1 characters)

鲜xiānfresh

HSK 6 (1 characters)

鲨shāshark

HSK 7-9 (4 characters)

鲁lǔShandong, foolish鳄ècrocodile鲤lǐcarp鲸jīngwhale

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the fish radical mean in Chinese characters?
The fish radical (鱼) signals a semantic connection to fish-related concepts. When you see 鱼 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves fish or associated ideas. It appears in 7 characters in the HSK character set. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the fish radical?
There are 7 characters with the fish radical (鱼) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 3, 1 in HSK 6, 4 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental fish-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common fish radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the fish radical (鱼) are: 鱼 (yú, "fish"), 鲁 (lǔ, "Shandong, foolish"), 鲜 (xiān, "fresh"), 鲨 (shā, "shark"), 鳄 (è, "crocodile"). These high-frequency characters are among the first fish-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include fish radical characters?
Characters with the fish radical (鱼) appear across 4 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 3, 1 in HSK 6, 4 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 4 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common fish-related characters, while advanced levels add specialized or literary terms.

Sources & Standards

Radical classifications on this page follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首), the standard set of 214 radicals codified in the Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, 1716). Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2022 revision.