宅 (zhái) is a Chinese character meaning “residence”. It is written from 宀 (roof) and 乇 (component on the right of 托; not commonly used on its own today), one above the other, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “residence”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
宀 + 乇
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字：宅，所託也。从宀乇聲
Memory aid
A roof (宀) sitting over 乇. Put a roof over that piece and you have somewhere to live — a home, a residence.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 住宅zhù zháiresidence; dwelling house宅 = zhái
- 宅子zhái zihouse; residence (colloquial)宅 = zhái
Go deeper
All readings
residence
residence; house; dwelling place
住所；供人居住的房子。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 住宅zhù zháiresidence; dwelling house宅 = zhái
- 宅子zhái zihouse; residence (colloquial)宅 = zhái
Sound component
乇 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 宅 mean?
宅 (zhái) means residence; house; dwelling place.
How do you pronounce 宅?
It is pronounced zhái.
What parts is 宅 made of?
宀 (roof) and 乇 (component on the right of 托; not commonly used on its own today), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字：宅，所託也。从宀乇聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 宅 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 宅?
宀. 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 宅?
Common ones are 住宅 and 宅子. The reading of 宅 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.