河 (hé) is a Chinese character meaning “river”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 可 (can; may; approve), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “river”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 可
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字「河，水……从水可聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵可，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–7 与「可」逐笔对应（3+5=8画）
Memory aid
Water (氵) on the left, 可 on the right: water that goes wherever it may (可) — a river.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 河流hé liúriver; watercourse河 = hé
- 河岸hé ànriverbank河 = hé
- 河堤hé dīriver embankment; levee河 = hé
- 河畔hé pànriverside; river bank河 = hé
- 河蚌hé bàngfreshwater mussel河 = hé
- 河豚hé túnpufferfish河 = hé
- 淮河huái héthe Huai River河 = hé
- 黄河Huáng Héthe Yellow River河 = hé
Go deeper
All readings
river
river; (specifically) the Yellow River
地面上的天然水道；特指黄河。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 河流hé liúriver; watercourse河 = hé
- 河岸hé ànriverbank河 = hé
- 河堤hé dīriver embankment; levee河 = hé
- 河畔hé pànriverside; river bank河 = hé
- 河蚌hé bàngfreshwater mussel河 = hé
- 河豚hé túnpufferfish河 = hé
- 淮河huái héthe Huai River河 = hé
- 黄河Huáng Héthe Yellow River河 = hé
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 河 mean?
河 (hé) means river; (specifically) the Yellow River.
How do you pronounce 河?
It is pronounced hé.
What parts is 河 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 可 (can; may; approve), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字「河，水……从水可聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵可，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–7 与「可」逐笔对应（3+5=8画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 河 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 河?
氵. 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 河?
Common ones are 河流 and 河岸. The reading of 河 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.