个 (gè) is a Chinese character meaning “an individual”. It is written from 人 (person) and 丨 (vertical stroke), one above the other, and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “individual; general measure word”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
人 + 丨
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+4E2A, dictionary.txt modern decomposition candidate, and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke inspection
Memory aid
A person (人) stands above one vertical stroke (丨): one individual item.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 个人gè rénindividual; personal个 = gè
- 个别gè biéindividual; exceptional个 = gè
- 两个liǎng gètwo (of something)个 = gè
Go deeper
All readings
individual; general measure word
an individual; a general measure word used for people and many things
表示单独的人或事物；也用作常见量词，可计量人和许多事物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 个人gè rénindividual; personal个 = gè
- 个别gè biéindividual; exceptional个 = gè
- 两个liǎng gètwo (of something)个 = gè
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 个 mean?
个 (gè) means an individual; a general measure word used for people and many things.
How do you pronounce 个?
It is pronounced gè.
What parts is 个 made of?
人 (person) and 丨 (vertical stroke), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+4E2A, dictionary.txt modern decomposition candidate, and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke inspection. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 个 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 个?
丨. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 个?
Common ones are 个人 and 个别. The reading of 个 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.