凡 (fán) is a Chinese character meaning “ordinary”. It is written from 几 (small table; how many) and 丶 (dot stroke), one enclosing the other, and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “ordinary; every”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
几 + 丶
Enclosing structure
Structure from: makemeahanzi dictionary modern decomposition candidate ⿵几丶, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 three-stroke glyph
Memory aid
A dot (丶) sits inside the frame shaped like 几: even the smallest thing belongs among all things (凡).
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 平凡píng fánordinary; commonplace凡 = fán
- 非凡fēi fánextraordinary; exceptional凡 = fán
Go deeper
All readings
ordinary; every
ordinary; commonplace; every; in all cases
平常；普通；也可表示所有的或大凡。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 平凡píng fánordinary; commonplace凡 = fán
- 非凡fēi fánextraordinary; exceptional凡 = fán
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 凡 mean?
凡 (fán) means ordinary; commonplace; every; in all cases.
How do you pronounce 凡?
It is pronounced fán.
What parts is 凡 made of?
几 (small table; how many) and 丶 (dot stroke), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: makemeahanzi dictionary modern decomposition candidate ⿵几丶, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 three-stroke glyph. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 凡 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 凡?
几. 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 凡?
Common ones are 平凡 and 非凡. The reading of 凡 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.