亻

Person Radical (亻)

rén · 2 strokes · Full form: 人

The person radical (亻) is one of the most common radicals in Chinese. It appears in 133 characters related to person and associated concepts. The standalone character form is 人 (2 strokes); the component form 亻 is used inside compound characters. 133 characters: 15 in HSK 1, 5 in HSK 2, 6 in HSK 3, 27 in HSK 4, 21 in HSK 5, 12 in HSK 6, 42 in HSK 7-9, 5 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: 亻 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 Person Component (亻) page.

Person Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count2 (亻)
Total Characters133
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (42 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes8
Standalone Form人 (rén)
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Person Radical Characters

HSK 1 (15 characters)

人rénperson你nǐyou他tāhe们menplural marker作zuòto work, to make做zuòto do, to make住zhùto live, to stay什shénwhat件jiànitem, matter休xiūto rest便biànconvenient会huìcan以yǐto use今jīnnow候hòuto wait

HSK 2 (5 characters)

但dànbut位wèiposition, measure word从cóngfrom体tǐbody介jièto introduce

HSK 3 (6 characters)

信xìnbelieve, letter假jiǎfalse, vacation借jièto borrow像xiàngto resemble健jiànhealthy伞sǎnumbrella

HSK 4 (27 characters)

任rèntask, to appoint何héwhat, how倒dǎoto fall, to invert停tíngto stop值zhívalue, be worth伤shānginjury, to hurt保bǎoto protect, to guarantee例lìexample供gōngto supply, to provide仅jǐnbarely仍réngstill付fùto pay仔zǐ(bound form) (of domestic animals or fowl) young份fènclassifier for gifts, newspaper, magazine, papers, reports, contracts etc伙huǒmeals (abbr. for 伙食[huo3 shi2])估gūto estimate倍bèi(two, three etc) -fold傲àoproud低dīlow使shǐto make价jiàprice修xiūto decorate优yōuexcellent众zhòngabbr. for 眾議院|众议院, House of Representatives俩liǎtwo (colloquial equivalent of 兩個|两个)傅fù(bound form) instructor偶ǒuaccidental

HSK 5 (21 characters)

传chuánto pass on代dàito be a substitute for令lìngto order似sìto seem伟wěibig伸shēnto stretch催cuīto urge傻shǎfoolish亿yì100 million伴bànpartner促cù(bound form) of short duration企qǐ(bound form) to stand on tiptoe and look俗súcustom依yīto depend on余yú(literary) I倡chàngto initiate仿fǎngto imitate傍bàngnear佛fóBuddha佳jiābeautiful伍wǔsquad of five soldiers

HSK 6 (12 characters)

仰yǎngto face upward佩pèito respect侧cèthe side偿chángto repay俱jù(literary) all偷tōuto steal仓cāngbarn储chǔTaiwan pr.倾qīngto overturn仪yíapparatus仗zhàngweaponry侄zhívariant of 姪|侄[zhi2]

HSK 7-9 (42 characters)

仙xiānimmortal侣lǚcompanion债zhàidebt偏piānto lean侵qīnto invade伯bófather's elder brother侈chǐextravagant仇qiúhatred俄éRussia伐fáto cut down伏fúto lean over俘fúto take prisoner俯fǔto look down俭jiǎn(bound form) frugal僵jiāngrigid倦juàntired倔juègruff俊jùnsmart侃kǎnupright and honest僚liáobureaucrat伦lúnhuman relationship僻pì(bound form) remote仆pūto fall forward侨qiáoemigrant俏qiàogood-looking仁rénhumane儒rúscholar僧sēng(bound form) Buddhist monk (abbr. for 僧伽)侍shìto serve伺sìto watch倘tǎngif伪wěifalse侮wǔto insult侠xiáknight-errant伊yīabbr. for 伊拉克, Iraq倚yǐto lean on佣yòngcommission (for middleman)佑yòu(bound form) to bless侦zhēnto scout仲zhòngsecond month of a season佐zuǒto assist侥jiǎoby mere luck

HSK 7-9 (5 characters)

仑lúnto arrange侯Hóusurname Hou仕shìto serve as an official俶chùto begin俞Yúsurname Yu

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the person radical mean in Chinese characters?
The person radical (亻) signals a semantic connection to person-related concepts. When you see 亻 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves person or associated ideas. With 133 characters using this radical, it is one of the more productive radicals in Chinese. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the person radical?
There are 133 characters with the person radical (亻) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 15 in HSK 1, 5 in HSK 2, 6 in HSK 3, 27 in HSK 4, 21 in HSK 5, 12 in HSK 6, 42 in HSK 7-9, 5 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental person-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What is the difference between 亻 and 人?
人 is the standalone character form (rén, meaning "person"), while 亻 is the simplified radical form used as a component inside other characters. When writing characters that contain the person radical, you write 亻 rather than the full form 人. Both forms represent the same radical — the component form 亻 is adapted for compact positioning within a character's structure.
What are the most common person radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the person radical (亻) are: 人 (rén, "person"), 他 (tā, "he"), 们 (men, "plural marker"), 以 (yǐ, "to use"), 会 (huì, "can"). These high-frequency characters are among the first person-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include person radical characters?
Characters with the person radical (亻) appear across 8 HSK levels: 15 in HSK 1, 5 in HSK 2, 6 in HSK 3, 27 in HSK 4, 21 in HSK 5, 12 in HSK 6, 42 in HSK 7-9, 5 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 42 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common person-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.