块 (kuài) is a Chinese character meaning “a piece, lump or chunk”. It is written from 土 (earth; soil) and 夬 (a hand pulling apart; splitting open), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “a piece; a lump”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
土 + 夬
Left–right structure
Structure from: ids-decomposition (现代简化字形 ⿰土夬；已与笔画数据核验 3+4=7)
Memory aid
Earth (土) on the left, and 夬 — a hand splitting something apart — on the right. Split a lump off the ground and you get one block.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 冰块bīng kuàiice cube; block of ice块 = kuài
- 一块yī kuàione piece; one yuan (colloquial)块 = kuàispoken asyí kuài
Go deeper
All readings
piece; lump
a piece, lump or chunk; measure word for pieces, chunks and (colloquially) units of currency
成块的东西；也作量词，用于块状物，口语中还用于钱的单位。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 冰块bīng kuàiice cube; block of ice块 = kuài
- 一块yī kuàione piece; one yuan (colloquial)块 = kuàispoken asyí kuài
Sound component
夬 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 块 mean?
块 (kuài) means a piece, lump or chunk; measure word for pieces, chunks and (colloquially) units of currency.
How do you pronounce 块?
It is pronounced kuài.
What parts is 块 made of?
土 (earth; soil) and 夬 (a hand pulling apart; splitting open), side by side. The recorded source is: ids-decomposition (现代简化字形 ⿰土夬；已与笔画数据核验 3+4=7). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 块 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 块?
土. 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 块?
Common ones are 冰块 and 一块. The reading of 块 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.