shì scholar; trained person

3 strokes

士 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “a scholar”. It takes 3 strokes.

Learn to write “scholar; trained person”

Watch the stroke order, then write the character yourself. · 3 strokes

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Structure

Single unit

  • scholar · shì unknown

Structure from: Unicode U+58EB and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection

Memory aid

Picture the standalone character 士 as the badge of a scholar or trained person.

This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.

Stroke order

3 strokes

In real words

  • 士兵shì bīngsoldier士 = shì
  • 士气shì qìmorale士 = shì
Go deeper

All readings

shì main reading

scholar; trained person

a scholar; a trained or professional person; a soldier

古代指未婚男子或读书人;也用于称受过训练或具有特定身份的人。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 士兵shì bīngsoldier士 = shì
  • 士气shì qìmorale士 = shì

Easy to confuse with

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

Questions people ask about this character

What does 士 mean?

士 (shì) means a scholar; a trained or professional person; a soldier.

How do you pronounce 士?

It is pronounced shì.

How many strokes does 士 have?

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

What is the radical of 士?

士. 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 士?

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