才 (cái) is a Chinese character meaning “talent or ability”. It is written from 丁 (fourth; adult man) and 丿 (left-falling stroke), and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “talent; ability”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丁 + 丿
Overlapping structure
Structure from: Unicode U+624D and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection
Memory aid
The two-stroke shape 丁 and a left-falling stroke (丿) overlap to form 才.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 才能cái néngtalent; ability才 = cái
- 人才rén cáitalented person才 = cái
- 刚才gāng cáijust now; a moment ago才 = cáiHSK 2
Go deeper
All readings
talent; only then
talent or ability; only; not until; just now
才华或能力；也表示仅仅、直到某时才发生，或刚刚。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 才能cái néngtalent; ability才 = cái
- 人才rén cáitalented person才 = cái
- 刚才gāng cáijust now; a moment ago才 = cáiHSK 2
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 才 mean?
才 (cái) means talent or ability; only; not until; just now.
How do you pronounce 才?
It is pronounced cái.
What parts is 才 made of?
丁 (fourth; adult man) and 丿 (left-falling stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+624D and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 才 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 才?
手. 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 才?
Common ones are 才能 and 人才. The reading of 才 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.