The 120 most productive Chinese radicals — printable

Ordered by how many characters each one builds. Characters are not arbitrary pictures — once you see the parts, a new character stops being a new shape and becomes a new combination.

All sheets
The 120 most productive Chinese radicals — printable · graphchinese.com — free HSK word lists, dictionary and curriculum
WordPinyinEnglish
扌
木
口
氵
艹
亻
钅
虫
土
讠
⺼
纟
忄 xīn Kangxi radical 61 (心) as a vertical side element
女
阝 fù mound 阜 (left) / city 邑 (right) radical
⺮ zhú "bamboo" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radic
辶
石
火
疒 nè sick
足
日
王
目
山
犭
心
鱼
鸟
贝
宀
酉 yǒu 10th earthly branch: 5-7 p.m., 8th solar month (8th
衤
刂 dāo "knife" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radica
马
禾
门
车
米
广
大
页
饣
巾
彳
穴
礻 shì spirit radical (form of 示)
雨
力
田
一
囗
尸
子
戈
攵 pū variant of 攴[pu1]
羽
厂
舟
牛
衣
冫
欠
灬
人
耳
气
手
歹
皿 mǐn dish
儿
弓
走
糸
十
又
隹
白
罒 wǎng net (Kangxi radical 122)
亠
丿
革
方
骨
羊
鬼
见
户
言
月
黑
立
二
髟 biāo hair
耒 lěi plow
瓦
彡
八
豸 zhì worm-like invertebrate
勹 bāo archaic variant of 包[bao1]
曰
水
寸
金
鹿
齿
冖
丨
角
殳 Shū surname Shu
矢
几
止
食
臼 jiù mortar
豕
鼠
卩 jié "seal" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical
风
斤

What the radicals sheet is

The 120 radicals that build the most characters, ordered by how many each one builds, with its reading and meaning. Once you can spot the parts, a new character reads as a combination of things you know.

How to use it

Print it in 3 columns, or save it as a PDF, and keep it next to your character practice. When you meet a new character, find its radical on the sheet before you look anything up. The character components page goes deeper, and the dictionary looks up any character.

More printable sheets

Other sheets: HSK 1 word list · HSK 2 word list · HSK 3 word list · HSK 4 word list · HSK 5 word list · HSK 6 word list · 200 highest-leverage words. All of them are listed on the printables page.

Questions about this sheet

How many radicals are on the sheet?

120, the ones that build the most characters.

How are they ordered?

By the number of characters each one builds, most first.

Is it free?

Yes, with no signup.

Get the free references

The 200-word list, the full curriculum order, and every HSK word list — sent once, plus a rare note when a new free reference ships. No account needed for any of it.