片 (piàn) is a Chinese character meaning “a thin flat piece”. It is written from ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇕ (horizontal-turning stroke), and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “a flat slice or sheet”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇒ + ㇑ + ㇐ + ㇕
Overlapping structure
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- ㇑ vertical stroke unknown
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
- ㇕ horizontal-turning stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+7247 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (four strokes: 撇 / 竖 / 横 / 横折)
Memory aid
The long left-falling stroke (㇒) is the sawn edge of a board. On its right a short vertical (㇑) stands at the top, a horizontal (㇐) lies flat across the middle, and the last stroke turns a corner and drops (㇕) — a thin slice standing on its side.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 照片zhào piànphotograph片 = piàn
- 卡片kǎ piàncard片 = piàn
- 拓片tà piàna rubbing (taken from a stone or bronze inscription)片 = piàn
- 瓦片wǎ piànroof tile片 = piàn
- 芯片xīn piànchip; microchip片 = piàn
- 恐怖片kǒng bù piànhorror film片 = piàn
- 钙片gài piàncalcium tablet片 = piàn
Go deeper
All readings
a flat slice; a sheet
a thin flat piece; a slice, sheet or card; (measure word) an expanse or stretch of something
平而薄的东西，如卡片、照片；也作量词，用于薄片状或成片的事物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 照片zhào piànphotograph片 = piàn
- 卡片kǎ piàncard片 = piàn
- 拓片tà piàna rubbing (taken from a stone or bronze inscription)片 = piàn
- 瓦片wǎ piànroof tile片 = piàn
- 芯片xīn piànchip; microchip片 = piàn
- 恐怖片kǒng bù piànhorror film片 = piàn
- 钙片gài piàncalcium tablet片 = piàn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 片 mean?
片 (piàn) means a thin flat piece; a slice, sheet or card; (measure word) an expanse or stretch of something.
How do you pronounce 片?
It is pronounced piàn.
What parts is 片 made of?
㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇕ (horizontal-turning stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+7247 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (four strokes: 撇 / 竖 / 横 / 横折). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 片 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 片?
片. 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 片?
Common ones are 照片 and 卡片. The reading of 片 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.