The character 人 — “person”: how to write it and what it means
person
The Chinese character 人 is read rén and means “person”. Below: the stroke order step by step, what the character is made of and the words it appears in.
Stroke order: how to write 人
人 has 2 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 人, with strokes to trace and empty squares.
What 人 is made of
A picture of a walking person: two legs.
The parts of a character hint at its meaning or its reading — more in the article “Chinese character radicals”.
Words with 人
- 家人family membersHSK 1
- 老人elderly personHSK 3
- 大人adultHSK 3
- 男人manHSK 3
- 女人womanHSK 3
- 别人other peopleHSK 3
- 爱人spouseHSK 3
- 客人guestHSK 3
- 名人celebrityHSK 3
- 病人patientHSK 3
- 人生life (human)HSK 4
- 感人touching, movingHSK 4
- 人数number of peopleHSK 4
- 工人workerHSK 4
- 人员staff, personnelHSK 4
- 负责人person in chargeHSK 4
Frequently asked questions
How do you write the character 人?
人 has 2 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 人 mean?
人 means “person”. It appears in 家人 (“family members”), 老人 (“elderly person”), 大人 (“adult”), 男人 (“man”).
How do you pronounce 人?
人 is read rén. The tone is part of the reading: with another melody it becomes another syllable.
How many strokes does 人 have?
2 strokes.
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 人 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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