孩 (hái) is a Chinese character meaning “child”. It is written from 子 (child; son) and 亥 (the twelfth Earthly Branch), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “child”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
子 + 亥
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 咳，小兒笑也。从口亥聲。孩，古文咳从子
Memory aid
A child (子) on the left, and 亥 — the last of the twelve Earthly Branches — on the right. Both parts are really in this character: picture the youngest child, the last one in line.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 孩子hái zǐchild; children孩 = háispoken ashái zi
- 小孩xiǎo háichild; kid孩 = hái
Go deeper
All readings
child
child; children
儿童；小孩子。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 孩子hái zǐchild; children孩 = háispoken ashái zi
- 小孩xiǎo háichild; kid孩 = hái
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 孩 mean?
孩 (hái) means child; children.
How do you pronounce 孩?
It is pronounced hái.
What parts is 孩 made of?
子 (child; son) and 亥 (the twelfth Earthly Branch), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 咳，小兒笑也。从口亥聲。孩，古文咳从子. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 孩 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 孩?
子. 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 孩?
Common ones are 孩子 and 小孩. The reading of 孩 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.