桥 (qiáo) is a Chinese character meaning “bridge”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 乔 (tall; the sound part of 侨, 桥, 娇, 骄), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “bridge”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
木 + 乔
Left–right structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（木4 + 乔6 = 10）+ 读音比对：乔 qiáo → 桥 qiáo；繁体「橋」见说文解字「从木喬聲」
Memory aid
Wood (木) lifted up tall (乔) over the water — timber raised high to cross a river is a bridge.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 桥梁qiáo liángbridge (general term)桥 = qiáo
- 天桥tiān qiáooverpass; pedestrian bridge桥 = qiáo
Go deeper
All readings
bridge
bridge
架在水上或空中、便于通行的建筑物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 桥梁qiáo liángbridge (general term)桥 = qiáo
- 天桥tiān qiáooverpass; pedestrian bridge桥 = qiáo
Sound component
乔 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 桥 mean?
桥 (qiáo) means bridge.
How do you pronounce 桥?
It is pronounced qiáo.
What parts is 桥 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 乔 (tall; the sound part of 侨, 桥, 娇, 骄), side by side. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（木4 + 乔6 = 10）+ 读音比对：乔 qiáo → 桥 qiáo；繁体「橋」见说文解字「从木喬聲」. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 桥 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 桥?
木. 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 桥?
Common ones are 桥梁 and 天桥. The reading of 桥 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.