其 (qí) is a Chinese character meaning “his”. It is written from 甘 (sweet) and 一 (one) and 八 (eight), and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “his; her; its; their”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
甘 + 一 + 八
Top–middle–bottom structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（逐笔对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔顺：第1–5笔=甘，第6笔=一，第7–8笔=八）
Memory aid
A sweet box (甘) set on a flat board (一), with two legs (八) splayed underneath — a stand holding up 其, the word that points at "that one's".
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 其他qí tāother; the rest其 = qíHSK 3
- 尤其yóu qíespecially; particularly其 = qí
- 与其yǔ qírather than其 = qí
- 美其名曰měi qí míng yuēto give it the fine-sounding name of; to call it, euphemistically其 = qí
- 其实qí shíactually; in fact其 = qíHSK 3
- 莫名其妙mò míng qí miàobaffling; inexplicable; for no apparent reason其 = qí
Go deeper
All readings
his; her; its; their; that
his; her; its; their; that one; such — a written-style pronoun/determiner
他（她、它）的；他们的；那个、那些。多用于书面语。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 其他qí tāother; the rest其 = qíHSK 3
- 尤其yóu qíespecially; particularly其 = qí
- 与其yǔ qírather than其 = qí
- 美其名曰měi qí míng yuēto give it the fine-sounding name of; to call it, euphemistically其 = qí
- 其实qí shíactually; in fact其 = qíHSK 3
- 莫名其妙mò míng qí miàobaffling; inexplicable; for no apparent reason其 = qí
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 其 mean?
其 (qí) means his; her; its; their; that one; such — a written-style pronoun/determiner.
How do you pronounce 其?
It is pronounced qí.
What parts is 其 made of?
甘 (sweet) and 一 (one) and 八 (eight). The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（逐笔对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔顺：第1–5笔=甘，第6笔=一，第7–8笔=八）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 其 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 其?
八. 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 其?
Common ones are 其他 and 尤其. The reading of 其 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.