晓 (xiǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “dawn, daybreak”. It is written from 日 (sun; day) and 尧 (Yao (legendary sage emperor); lofty, towering), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “dawn; to know”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
日 + 尧
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字：曉，明也。从日堯聲。Modern glyph split checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 (strokes 1–4 = 日, strokes 5–10 = 尧).
Memory aid
The sun (日) on the left, and on the right 尧, someone standing up high. The one standing highest sees the sun first — that is 晓, daybreak, when things become clear and known.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 知晓zhī xiǎoto know; to be aware of晓 = xiǎo
- 拂晓fú xiǎodaybreak; dawn晓 = xiǎo
Go deeper
All readings
dawn; to know
dawn, daybreak; to know, to understand; to let someone know
天刚亮的时候；知道、明白；使人知道。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 知晓zhī xiǎoto know; to be aware of晓 = xiǎo
- 拂晓fú xiǎodaybreak; dawn晓 = xiǎo
Sound component
尧 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 晓 mean?
晓 (xiǎo) means dawn, daybreak; to know, to understand; to let someone know.
How do you pronounce 晓?
It is pronounced xiǎo.
What parts is 晓 made of?
日 (sun; day) and 尧 (Yao (legendary sage emperor); lofty, towering), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：曉，明也。从日堯聲。Modern glyph split checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 (strokes 1–4 = 日, strokes 5–10 = 尧).. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 晓 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 晓?
日. 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 晓?
Common ones are 知晓 and 拂晓. The reading of 晓 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.