The character 相 — “mutually”: how to write it and what it means
mutually; appearance
The Chinese character 相 is read xiāng and means “mutually; appearance”. Below: the stroke order step by step, what the character is made of and the words it appears in.
Stroke order: how to write 相
相 has 9 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 相, with strokes to trace and empty squares.
What 相 is made of
Two readings: xiāng in 相信, and xiàng, “appearance, photo”, in 相机 and 照相.
The parts of a character hint at its meaning or its reading — more in the article “Chinese character radicals”.
Words with 相
- 相机cameraHSK 3
- 相信believe, trustHSK 3
- 照相have a photo taken, take photosHSK 3
- 互相each otherHSK 4
- 相互mutuallyHSK 4
- 相同identical, the sameHSK 4
- 相比compared withHSK 4
- 相反on the contrary; oppositeHSK 4
- 相处get along, interactHSK 5
- 相当quite; correspond toHSK 5
- 相册photo albumHSK 5
- 相似similarHSK 5
- 相关relatedHSK 5
- 相对relativeHSK 5
- 相差differ (by)HSK 6
- 相等be equal, equalHSK 6
Frequently asked questions
How do you write the character 相?
相 has 9 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 相 mean?
相 means “mutually; appearance”. It appears in 相机 (“camera”), 相信 (“believe”), 照相 (“have a photo taken”), 互相 (“each other”).
How do you pronounce 相?
相 is read xiāng. The tone is part of the reading: with another melody it becomes another syllable.
How many strokes does 相 have?
9 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 相 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.
Start for free