占 (zhàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to occupy”. It is written from 卜 (divination) and 口 (mouth), one above the other, and takes 5 strokes. It has a second reading, zhān, which turns up in 占卜 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “to occupy”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
卜 + 口
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字·卜部：占，視兆問也。从卜从口
Memory aid
A divination crack (卜) sitting on top of a mouth (口): you read the crack, say the answer out loud, and that answer is now yours — you have taken it.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 占领zhàn lǐngto occupy; to capture (a place)占 = zhàn
- 占用zhàn yòngto occupy and use; to take up (space, time)占 = zhàn
Go deeper
All readings
to occupy
to occupy; to take up; to hold (a place, a share, a position)
取得或据有；占据一定的空间、时间或比例。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 占领zhàn lǐngto occupy; to capture (a place)占 = zhàn
- 占用zhàn yòngto occupy and use; to take up (space, time)占 = zhàn
to divine
to divine; to tell fortunes by reading omens
用龟甲、蓍草等推断吉凶。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 占卜zhān bǔto practice divination; divination占 = zhān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 占 mean?
占 (zhàn) means to occupy; to take up; to hold (a place, a share, a position).
How do you pronounce 占?
Its main reading is zhàn. It also has a second reading, zhān, which only shows up in certain words such as 占卜 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 占 sometimes pronounced zhān?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 占卜 it is read zhān.
What parts is 占 made of?
卜 (divination) and 口 (mouth), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字·卜部：占，視兆問也。从卜从口. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 占 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 占?
卜. 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 占?
Common ones are 占领 and 占用. The reading of 占 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.