扫 (sǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “to sweep”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 彐 (snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “to sweep”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
扌 + 彐
Left–right structure
- 扌 hand (radical form) · shǒu meaning
- 彐 snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right · jì simplified form
Structure from: modern-glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data strokes (扌 strokes 1-3, 彐 strokes 4-6)
Memory aid
A hand (扌) on the left, and on the right 彐 — three bars stacked like the bristles of a broom head. Hand plus broom: sweep.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 扫地sǎo dìto sweep the floor扫 = sǎo
- 打扫dǎ sǎoto clean up; to tidy up扫 = sǎospoken asdá sǎo
Go deeper
All readings
to sweep
to sweep; to clear away; to sweep over (with the eyes, a beam, a scanner)
用扫帚清除尘土、垃圾；也指快速掠过，如扫视、扫描。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 扫地sǎo dìto sweep the floor扫 = sǎo
- 打扫dǎ sǎoto clean up; to tidy up扫 = sǎospoken asdá sǎo
Rare readings, not taught: sào
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 扫 mean?
扫 (sǎo) means to sweep; to clear away; to sweep over (with the eyes, a beam, a scanner).
How do you pronounce 扫?
It is pronounced sǎo.
What parts is 扫 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 彐 (snout radical; a three-stroke block closed on the right), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data strokes (扌 strokes 1-3, 彐 strokes 4-6). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 扫 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 扫?
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 扫?
Common ones are 扫地 and 打扫. The reading of 扫 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.