The character 爬 — “crawl”: how to write it and what it means

爬
pá

crawl, climb

8 strokes · HSK 3 · word page

The Chinese character 爬 is read pá and means “crawl, climb”. Below: the stroke order step by step, what the character is made of and the words it appears in.

Stroke order: how to write 爬

爬 has 8 strokes. At each step the new stroke is highlighted — write them in the same order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical, a frame before what is inside it, and the bottom stroke of the frame last.

To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for 爬, with strokes to trace and empty squares.

What 爬 is made of

On the left, 爪 “claws”; on the right, 巴 bā hints at the sound.

The parts of a character hint at its meaning or its reading — more in the article “Chinese character radicals”.

Frequently asked questions

How do you write the character 爬?

爬 has 8 strokes. They follow the usual rules: top to bottom, left to right, horizontal before vertical, outside before inside. The order of each stroke is shown on this page.

What does 爬 mean?

爬 means “crawl, climb”.

How do you pronounce 爬?

爬 is read pá. The tone is part of the reading: with another melody it becomes another syllable.

How many strokes does 爬 have?

8 strokes.

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More characters on the page “Chinese characters with meanings” and in the list of HSK characters by level; whole words are in the dictionary.

Write 爬 yourself

In the lessons you write characters stroke by stroke with a finger or a mouse, and the course checks the order. You can start for free, no sign-up needed.

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