字Study Chinese Characters
同

tóng same

6 strokes

同 (tóng) is a Chinese character meaning “same”. It is written from 冂 (down box) and 一 (one) and 口 (mouth), one enclosing the other, and takes 6 strokes.

Build the character for “same”

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Learn this character

Structure

冂 + 一 + 口

Enclosing structure

  • 冂 down box · jiōng unknown
  • 一 one · yī unknown
  • 口 mouth · kǒu unknown

Structure from: modern-glyph-decomposition (Unicode IDS ⿵冂⿱一口, verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke order)

Memory aid

One frame (冂) covers everything. Under it, one line (一) sits over one mouth (口) — one cover, one line, one mouth: everybody the same.

This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.

Stroke order

6 strokes

In real words

  • 不同bù tóngdifferent; not the same同 = tóngHSK 3
  • 共同gòng tóngcommon; joint; together同 = tóngHSK 4
  • 与众不同yǔ zhòng bù tóngdifferent from the rest同 = tóng
  • 合同hé tóngcontract同 = tóng
  • 同胞tóng bāosibling born of the same parents; compatriot同 = tóng
  • 陪同péi tóngto accompany (someone somewhere)同 = tóng
Go deeper

All readings

tóng main reading

same

same; alike; together; with; in common

相同；一样。也表示一起、共同。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 不同bù tóngdifferent; not the same同 = tóngHSK 3
  • 共同gòng tóngcommon; joint; together同 = tóngHSK 4
  • 与众不同yǔ zhòng bù tóngdifferent from the rest同 = tóng
  • 合同hé tóngcontract同 = tóng
  • 同胞tóng bāosibling born of the same parents; compatriot同 = tóng
  • 陪同péi tóngto accompany (someone somewhere)同 = tóng

Other characters with these parts

冂 → 两丽内冈冉口央巾

一 → 一七丁丈三万下与

口 → 中串兄免兑加占古

Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions

Questions people ask about this character

What does 同 mean?

同 (tóng) means same; alike; together; with; in common.

How do you pronounce 同?

It is pronounced tóng.

What parts is 同 made of?

冂 (down box) and 一 (one) and 口 (mouth), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: modern-glyph-decomposition (Unicode IDS ⿵冂⿱一口, verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke order). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.

How many strokes does 同 have?

6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 同?

口. 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 同?

Common ones are 不同 and 共同. The reading of 同 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.