女

Woman Radical (女)

nǚ · 3 strokes

The woman radical (女) is one of the most common radicals in Chinese. It appears in 55 characters related to woman and associated concepts. 55 characters: 7 in HSK 1, 3 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 3, 2 in HSK 4, 7 in HSK 5, 11 in HSK 6, 20 in HSK 7-9, 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: 女 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 Woman Component (女) page.

Woman Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count3
Total Characters55
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (20 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes9
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Woman Radical Characters

HSK 1 (7 characters)

女nǚwoman她tāshe好hǎogood妈māmother姐jiěelder sister妹mèiyounger sister奶nǎigrandmother, milk

HSK 2 (3 characters)

始shǐto begin姓xìngsurname妻qīwife

HSK 3 (3 characters)

婚hūnmarriage如rúas, if姨yímother's sister

HSK 4 (2 characters)

姑gūaunt娘niángmother

HSK 5 (7 characters)

妇fùwoman, wife姿zīposture, appearance威wēipower, might娱yúentertainment婆pógrandmother媒méimedium姥lǎograndma (maternal)

HSK 6 (11 characters)

妙miàowonderful委wěicommittee, to entrust嫌xiánto dislike娃wábaby妨fángto hinder嫁jià(of a woman) to marry娶qǔto take a wife媳xídaughter-in-law姻yīnmarriage connections婴yīnginfant妆zhuāng(of a woman) to adorn oneself

HSK 7-9 (20 characters)

嫩nèntender奴núslave嫦chángused in 嫦娥妒dùto envy (success, talent)娥égood嫉jíjealousy奸jiānwicked姜jiāngginger娇jiāolovable婪lánavaricious媚mèi(bound form) to flatter姆mǔ(old) female tutor媲pìto match嫂sǎo(bound form) older brother's wife妥tuǒsuitable婉wǎngraceful妄wàngabsurd嬉xīamusement婿xùson-in-law妖yāogoblin

HSK 7-9 (2 characters)

娜nà(phonetic na)妃fēiimperial concubine

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the woman radical mean in Chinese characters?
The woman radical (女) signals a semantic connection to woman-related concepts. When you see 女 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves woman or associated ideas. With 55 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 woman radical?
There are 55 characters with the woman radical (女) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 7 in HSK 1, 3 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 3, 2 in HSK 4, 7 in HSK 5, 11 in HSK 6, 20 in HSK 7-9, 2 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental woman-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common woman radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the woman radical (女) are: 如 (rú, "as, if"), 好 (hǎo, "good"), 她 (tā, "she"), 女 (nǚ, "woman"), 始 (shǐ, "to begin"). These high-frequency characters are among the first woman-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include woman radical characters?
Characters with the woman radical (女) appear across 8 HSK levels: 7 in HSK 1, 3 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 3, 2 in HSK 4, 7 in HSK 5, 11 in HSK 6, 20 in HSK 7-9, 2 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 20 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common woman-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.