10 Chinese Characters with Pictures

7 min readFeb 3, 2020

“Chinese is the most difficult language in the world! Why would you even choose to learn it?”

This is one famous answer you will hear from any person who finds out about your intention to learn Chinese.

“They have no alphabet! It is just a bunch of random pictures that are impossible to memorize!”

Some Chinese characters are very simple and are made of just a few strokes, while others are made of other simpler characters, which are called radicals. Radicals are simple characters that combine to create compound Chinese characters. They have various meanings and can usually help you to understand the meaning and the pronunciation of compound characters. There are around 200 radicals in the Chinese language; therefore, some people compare those radicals with letters or the roots of words.

This article focuses on the above-mentioned idea to introduce you to 10 Chinese characters. The characters are broken into radicals to help you perceive Chinese characters as logical compounds, each representing a part of Chinese history, culture, and philosophy.

The article will also show you how each character is used in sentences and phrases. Some characters come along with short grammatical explanations and cultural facts. Most of the character associations have no etymological value, that is, they do not show how the character originated.

All images and associations are taken from the book Chinese Characters with Associations (2020) with the permission of the publisher.

别 [Bié]

1) To leave, to depart, to separate

2) Other, another, different

3) Special, unusual

4) To forbid something, “don’t do…”

Words or Phrases

特别 [Tèbié] Special

别的 [Biéde] Other, another, the rest

别客气 [Bié kèqi] Don’t mention it; Make yourself at home; Don’t be formal.

E. g. 如果我是你，我不会不道别就走。

[Rúguǒ wǒ shì nǐ, wǒ búhuì bùdàobié jiùzǒu]

If I were you, I wouldn’t go without saying goodbye.

Composition: The character is made up of 3 radicals: 口 [Kǒu], meaning “mouth; entrance”，力 [Lì], meaning “strength; power”, and 刂, which is the radical form of 刀 [Dāo], meaning “knife”:

Association: Imagine, that after saying goodbye (口) to the family, the hunter kneeled down to gather all his strength [力], and ask God to make his special sword, knife [刂] Serve him well during the hunt:

菜 [Cài]

1) Vegetable, greens

2) Dish, food, course

3) Cuisine

Words or Phrases

菜单 [Càidān] Menu

蔬菜 [Shūcài] Vegetables, greens

点菜 [Diǎn cài] To order food (in a café or restaurant)

E. g. 你点的菜很好吃。

[Nǐ diǎnde cài hěn hǎochī]

The food you ordered is delicious.

Composition: The character is made up of the radicals 艹, meaning “grass; herbs”, 爫, meaning “to grab; hand”, and木 [Mù], that denotes a tree:

Association: As you know, the tastiest and freshest vegetables, herbs (艹) are those, which you planted with your own hands (爫) under the shadow of a nearby tree (木):

吃 [Chī]

1) To eat/to have one’s meal

2) To consume, to absorb

Words or Phrases

吃饭 [Chī fàn] To have a meal

好吃 [Hǎochī] Tasty, delicious

吃药 [Chī yào] To take medicine

E. g. 我饿死了，我非常想吃火锅。

[Wǒ è sǐle, wǒ fēicháng xiǎng chī huǒguō]

I am starving; I really want to eat hot pot.

Composition: The character is made up of the radicals 口 [Kǒu], meaning “mouth; entrance”, 𠂉, that is one of the variants of 人 [Rén], meaning “person; human” (see № 164), and 乙 :

Association: The radical 乙 looks like a snake, so while writing, think that when a person (𠂉 ) is hungry, he can even put a snake (乙) in his mouth (口):

错 [Cuò]

1) Mistake, error, fault

2) Wrong

3) Uneven

Words or Phrases

不错 [Búcuò] Correct; not bad

做错 [Zuòcuò] To do something wrong; to make a mistake

记错 [Jìcuò] To remember incorrect-ly

E. g. 我做错了，该怎么办呢？

[Wǒ zuò cuòle, gāi zěnme bàn ne]

I have made a mistake, what should I do?

Composition: The character is made up of the radicals 钅, meaning “metal”, 艹, meaning “grass; herbs”, 一 [Yī], meaning “one” (see № 288), and 日 [Rì], meaning “sun” (see №166):

Association: Things went wrong when the metal (钅) detector started to make loud noise over grass (艹), even though there was nothing. Maybe, the reason is that it had already been used for one (一) hour non-stop under the burning sun (日):

大 [Dà]

1) Big, huge, enormous

2) Old, eldest

3) General, main

4) Loud (voice)

5) Strong (wind)

Words or Phrases

长大 [Zhǎngdà] To grow up

大学 [Dàxué] College, university

大哥 [Dàgē] The eldest brother; big brother (a polite way to address a man who is a bit older)

E. g. 我比我弟弟大五岁。

[Wǒ bǐ wǒ dìdì dà wǔ suì]

I am five years elder than my little brother.

Composition: The character consists of the combination of 一 [Yī], meaning “one” (see № 288), and 人 [Rén], meaning “person” (see № 164):

Association: This one (一) person is so gigantic (大), that clouds reach her waist:

弟弟 [Dìdi]

Younger brother

Words or Phrases

我弟弟 [Wǒdìdi] My younger brother

弟弟的看法 [Dìdi de kànfǎ] Younger brother’s opinion

弟弟的书 [Dìdì de shū] Younger brither’s book

E. g. 我弟弟是我最好的朋友。

[Wǒ dìdì shì wǒ zuì hǎo de péngyǒu]

My younger brother is my best friend.

Composition: The character is made up of the radicals 丷, which is the radical form of the character 八 [Bā], meaning “eight” (see № 296), 弓, meaning “bow”, 丨, that is a “line”, and 丿, that is a “slash”:

Association: The character itself looks like a Chinese dragon: 丷 is like horns, 弓 and 丨are the body and the tail, and 丿looks like the feet. When my younger brother ( 弟弟) is angry, he turns into a fierce Chinese dragon:

多 [Duō]

1) Much, many, a lot of

2) Over (an amount, a period)

Words or Phrases

多美啊！[Duō měi a] How beautiful!

好多 [Hǎoduō] Quite a lot

多高 [Duōgāo] How tall?

E. g. 你多大了？

[Nǐ duōdàle]

How old are you?

Composition: The character is made up of the repetition of the radical 夕, meaning “evening”:

Association: 夕 looks like a shark, so, two (多) sharks are already too many (多) for a small fish tank:

哥哥 [Gēge]

Elder brother

Words or Phrases

我哥哥 [Wǒ gēge] My elder brother

大哥 [Dàgē] Eldest brother; big brother; boss

哥哥的手机 [Gēgē de shǒujī] Broth-er’s mobile phone

E. g. 我有五个哥哥。

[Wǒ yǒu wǔ gè gēge]

I have five elder brothers.

Composition: The character is made up of the radicals丁 [Dīng], meaning “nail”, and 口 [Kǒu], meaning “mouth; entrance”. Or you can remember it as two characters 可 [Kě], meaning “can; be able to; may” (see № 106):

Association: Imagine, two brothers, the younger one (可), and the elder (哥) one, standing near the wall with a height growth chart on it:

狗 [Gǒu]

Dog

Words or Phrases

小狗 [Xiǎo gǒu] Puppy

热狗 [Règǒu] Hotdog

狗年 [Gǒu nián] Year of the Dog

E. g. 那只小狗是我的。

[Nà zhǐ xiǎo gǒu shì wǒ de]

That puppy is mine.

Composition: The character is made up of the radical 犭, meaning “dog” (this radical is used in many animal denoting characters”), and the character 句 [Jù], meaning “sentence; phrase”: