乙

Second Radical (乙)

yǐ · 1 strokes

The second radical (乙) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 9 characters related to second and associated concepts. 9 characters: 5 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 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: 乙 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 Second Component (乙) page.

Second Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count1
Total Characters9
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 1 (5 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes4
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Second Radical Characters

HSK 1 (5 characters)

也yěalso买mǎito buy九jiǔnine习xí(bound form) to practice书shūabbr. for 書經|书经

HSK 4 (1 characters)

乱luànin confusion or disorder

HSK 5 (1 characters)

乙yǐsecond of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干

HSK 7-9 (2 characters)

乞qǐto beg乳rǔ(bound form) breast

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the second radical mean in Chinese characters?
The second radical (乙) signals a semantic connection to second-related concepts. When you see 乙 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves second or associated ideas. It appears in 9 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 second radical?
There are 9 characters with the second radical (乙) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 5 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental second-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common second radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the second radical (乙) are: 也 (yě, "also"), 书 (shū, "abbr. for 書經|书经"), 九 (jiǔ, "nine"), 习 (xí, "(bound form) to practice"), 买 (mǎi, "to buy"). These high-frequency characters are among the first second-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include second radical characters?
Characters with the second radical (乙) appear across 4 HSK levels: 5 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 1 with 5 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common second-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.