氵
Water Radical (氵)
shuǐ · 3 strokes · Full form: 水
The water radical (氵) is one of the most common radicals in Chinese. It appears in 209 characters related to water and associated concepts. The standalone character form is 水 (3 strokes); the component form 氵 is used inside compound characters. 209 characters: 4 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 15 in HSK 3, 17 in HSK 4, 28 in HSK 5, 24 in HSK 6, 87 in HSK 7-9, 30 outside the HSK syllabus. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).
Radical vs. Component: 氵 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 Water Component (氵) page.
Water Radical at a Glance
| Stroke Count | 3 (氵) |
|---|---|
| Total Characters | 209 |
| Most Common HSK Level | HSK 7-9 (87 characters) |
| Avg. Character Strokes | 10 |
| Standalone Form | 水 (shuǐ) |
| Classification | Kangxi Radicals |
All Water Radical Characters
HSK 1 (4 characters)
HSK 2 (4 characters)
HSK 3 (15 characters)
HSK 4 (17 characters)
HSK 5 (28 characters)
湖húlake池chípool浅qiǎnshallow洞dòngcave, hole湿shīwet治zhìto govern, to treat沉chénto submerge沿yánalong派pài(literary) tributary浏liúclear浓nóngconcentrated淡dàninsipid渐jiàngradual源yuánroot滑huáto slip漏lòuto leak测cèto survey汇huìto remit泪lèi(bound form) tears泛fàn(bound form) general沟gōuditch滚gǔnto boil漠mòdesert润rùnmoist洒sǎto sprinkle涨zhǎngto rise (of prices, rivers)浆jiāngthick liquid浇jiāoto pour liquid
HSK 6 (24 characters)
泡pàobubble涌yǒngto bubble up液yè(bound form) a liquid混hùnto mix潮cháotide洁jiéclean滴dīto drip渡dùto cross浮fúto float港gǎngHong Kong (abbr. for 香港)洪hóngflood泥nímud潜qiánhidden渠qúhow can it be that?涉shè(literary) to wade across a body of water添tiānto add涵hánto contain淋línto sprinkle汰tàito discard淘táoto wash (rice, sand etc in water to remove impurities)沃wòfertile淹yānto flood浴yùbath漱shùto rinse one's mouth with water
HSK 7-9 (87 characters)
溪xīstream波bōwave泊bóto moor (a boat)湾wānbay泣qìto sob沸fèito boil涝làoflooded澳àoMacao (abbr. for 澳門|澳门)滨bīn(bound form) water's edge沧cāng(bound form) (of water, esp. the ocean) deep blue-green澄chéngclear涤díto wash淀diàn(bound form) shallow lake (usu. in place names)溉gàito irrigate沽gūto buy灌guànto irrigate浩hàogrand沪hùshort name for Shanghai淮huáiname of a river浑húnmuddy溅jiànto splash津jīnsaliva浸jìnto immerse沮jǔto destroy溃kuì(bound form) (of floodwaters) to break through a dam or dike澜lánswelling water滥lànoverflowing潦liáoused in 潦草 (sloppy) and 潦倒 (down on one's luck)溜liūto slip away滤lǜto strain泌mì(bound form) to secrete渺miǎo(of an expanse of water) vast沫mòfoam沐mùto bathe潘pānPan, faun in Greek mythology, son of Hermes沛pèicopious浦pǔriver bank瀑pùwaterfall沏qīto steep (tea)漆qīpaint洽qiàaccord溶róngto dissolve渗shènto seep涮shuànto rinse溯sùto go upstream泰tàiMt Tai 泰山 in Shandong滩tānbeach潭tándeep pool淌tǎngto drip涛tāobig wave滔tāo(bound form) to inundate涕tìtears涂túto apply (paint etc)汪wāngexpanse of water涡wōeddy潇xiāo(of water) deep and clear淆xiáoconfused and disorderly泄xiè(bound form) to leak out泻xièto flow out swiftly汹xiōngtorrential rush汛xùnhigh water涯yáborder漾yàngto overflow溢yìto overflow渔yúfisherman渝yúshort name for Chongqing 重慶|重庆渊yuāndeep pool泽zépool渣zhāslag (in mining or smelting)沾zhānto moisten沼zhǎopond浙zhèZhejiang (province in east China)滞zhì(bound form) sluggish浊zhuóturbid滋zīto grow汲jísurname Ji泞nìngmuddy涩sèastringent淤yūsilt淳chúngenuine湃pàiused in 澎湃湛zhànsurname Zhan溺nìto drown澈chèclear (water)澎péngused in 澎湃濒bīnto approach瀚hànocean
Not in HSK (30 characters)
洛luòused in transliteration沈shěn(literary) juice浚jùnto dredge (a river)滇diānYunnan (province in southwest China)洱ěrErhai Lake (in place names)汐xīnight tides汝rǔthou瀛yíngocean涅niè(literary) alunite (formerly used as a black dye)泠língsound of water flowing淞sōngname of a river in Jiangsu Province洼wādepression渲xuànwash (color)汕shànbamboo fish trap湘xiāngHunan淑shū(bound form) (of women) gentle泓hóngclear渚zhǔislet汶wènWen River in northwest Sichuan (same as 汶川)渍zìto soak渤bóused in 渤海沥lìto drip沦lúnto sink (into ruin, oblivion)湮yān(literary) to sink into oblivion泵bèngpump (loanword)漓lípattering (of rain)潞lùname of a river淇qíname of a river溏tánghalf congealed澹dàntranquil
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the water radical mean in Chinese characters?
The water radical (氵) signals a semantic connection to water-related concepts. When you see 氵 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves water or associated ideas. With 209 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 water radical?
There are 179 characters with the water radical (氵) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 4 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 15 in HSK 3, 17 in HSK 4, 28 in HSK 5, 24 in HSK 6, 87 in HSK 7-9. Another 30 characters are outside the HSK syllabus. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental water-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What is the difference between 氵 and 水?
水 is the standalone character form (shuǐ, meaning "water"), while 氵 is the simplified radical form used as a component inside other characters. When writing characters that contain the water radical, you write 氵 rather than the full form 水. Both forms represent the same radical — the component form 氵 is adapted for compact positioning within a character's structure.
What are the most common water radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the water radical (氵) are: 法 (fǎ, "law, method"), 没 (méi, "(negative prefix for verbs) have not"), 海 (hǎi, "sea"), 水 (shuǐ, "water"), 活 (huó, "to live"). These high-frequency characters are among the first water-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include water radical characters?
Characters with the water radical (氵) appear across 7 HSK levels: 4 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 15 in HSK 3, 17 in HSK 4, 28 in HSK 5, 24 in HSK 6, 87 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 87 characters. Another 30 characters are outside the HSK syllabus. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common water-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.