猜 (cāi) is a Chinese character meaning “to guess”. It is written from 犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 青 (blue-green; young), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to guess”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
犭 + 青
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 猜，恨贼也。从犬青聲（现代字形分作 ⿰犭青，笔画分组据 hanzi-writer-data 3+8=11）
Memory aid
An animal (犭) staring at something blue-green (青) in the grass — it can't be sure what it is, so it has to guess. Both parts are really written in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 猜测cāi cèto guess; to speculate猜 = cāi
- 猜想cāi xiǎngto suppose; conjecture猜 = cāi
Go deeper
All readings
to guess
to guess; to suspect
根据线索推测、估计；也指起疑心。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 猜测cāi cèto guess; to speculate猜 = cāi
- 猜想cāi xiǎngto suppose; conjecture猜 = cāi
Sound component
青 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 猜 mean?
猜 (cāi) means to guess; to suspect.
How do you pronounce 猜?
It is pronounced cāi.
What parts is 猜 made of?
犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 青 (blue-green; young), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 猜，恨贼也。从犬青聲（现代字形分作 ⿰犭青，笔画分组据 hanzi-writer-data 3+8=11）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 猜 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 猜?
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 猜?
Common ones are 猜测 and 猜想. The reading of 猜 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.