犬 (quǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “dog (formal or technical word for dog, used in compounds)”. It is written from 大 (big) and 丶 (dot stroke), and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “dog”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
大 + 丶
Overlapping structure
Structure from: data-pipeline/sources/dictionary.txt decomposition candidate, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke paths for 犬 (4 strokes), 大 (3) and 丶 (1)
Memory aid
Take 大 and add one small dot (丶) at the top right — like an ear flicking up. That extra dot turns the big figure into a dog: 犬.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 警犬jǐng quǎnpolice dog犬 = quǎn
- 猎犬liè quǎnhound; hunting dog犬 = quǎn
- 犬吠quǎn fèia dog's bark; dogs barking犬 = quǎn
Go deeper
All readings
dog
dog (formal or technical word for dog, used in compounds)
狗。多用于书面语和合成词中。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 警犬jǐng quǎnpolice dog犬 = quǎn
- 猎犬liè quǎnhound; hunting dog犬 = quǎn
- 犬吠quǎn fèia dog's bark; dogs barking犬 = quǎn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 犬 mean?
犬 (quǎn) means dog (formal or technical word for dog, used in compounds).
How do you pronounce 犬?
It is pronounced quǎn.
What parts is 犬 made of?
大 (big) and 丶 (dot stroke). The recorded source is: data-pipeline/sources/dictionary.txt decomposition candidate, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke paths for 犬 (4 strokes), 大 (3) and 丶 (1). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 犬 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 犬?
犬. 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 犬?
Common ones are 警犬 and 猎犬. The reading of 犬 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.