Character Strokes - Foundation Flashcards

Learn how to write and the 9 strokes to make all characters

1
Q

How many foundational strokes are there in any given character?

A

Chinese characters are made up of simple single strokes, all of them variations of only eight basic ones. All strokes have their own name and are written according to a few rules. It’s very important to learn to recognize them, since the number of strokes in a character is often the easiest way to find it in an index

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2
Q

What is the first foundational stroke?

A

heng2

horizontal stroke (written from left to right) as in the character yi1 “one”

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3
Q

What is the second foundational stroke?

A

shu

vertical stroke (written from top to bottom) as in the character shi2 “ten”

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4
Q

What is the third foundational stroke?

A

pie3

down stroke to the left (written from top right to bottom left) as in the character ba1 “eight”

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5
Q

What is the fourth foundational stroke?

A

na4

down stroke to the right (written from top left to bottom right) as in the character ru4 “to enter”

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6
Q

What is the fifth foundational stroke?

A

dian3

dot (written from top to bottom right or left) as in the character liu4 “six”

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7
Q

What is the sixth foundational stroke?

A

ti2

upward stroke (written from bottom left to top right) as in the character ba3 “to grasp”

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8
Q

Does the seventh foundational stroke have several variations?

A

The seventh foundational stroke has five different variations, composed of a stroke with a hook.

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9
Q

What is the first variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

A

heng2gou1

horizontal stroke with a hook as in the character zi3 “character”

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10
Q

What is the second variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

A

shu4gou1

vertical stroke with a hook as in the character xiao3 “small”

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11
Q

What is the third variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

A

wan1gou1

bending stroke with a hook as in the character gou3 “dog”

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12
Q

What is the fourth variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

A

xie2gou1

slant stroke with a hook as in the character wo3 “I, me”

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13
Q

What is the fifth variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

A

ping2gou1

level bending stroke with a hook as in the character wang4 “to forget”

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14
Q

What is the eighth fundamental stroke?

A

a stroke with a turn - two variations

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15
Q

What is the first variation of the eighth fundamental stroke?

A

shu4zhe2

vertical stroke with a horizontal turn to the right as in the character yi1 “doctor, medicine”

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16
Q

What is the second variation of the eighth fundamental stroke?

A

heng2zhe2

horizontal stroke with a vertical turn as in the character kou3 “mouth”

17
Q

Can fundamental strokes be combined to form simple combined strokes?

A

Yes, 3 major variations

18
Q

What is the first variation of a combined stroke?

A

shu4wan2gou1

vertical stroke combined with a level bending stroke with a hook as in the character ye3 “also”

19
Q

What is the second variation of a combined stroke?

A

pie3dian3

down stroke to the left combined with a dot as in the character nu3 “woman”

20
Q

What is the third variation of a combined stroke?

A

shu4zhe2zhe2gou1

vertical stroke with a double turn and a hook as in the character ma3 “horse”