甚 (shèn) is a Chinese character meaning “very”. It is written from 甘 (sweet) and 匹 (match; measure word for horses), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “extremely”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
甘 + 匹
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 9 笔核验：甘 第 1–5 笔 + 匹 第 6–9 笔）
Memory aid
Sweet (甘) stacked on top of a matched pair (匹) — one helping of sweetness matched by another. That is 甚: not just a lot, but extremely so.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 甚至shèn zhìeven; so much so that甚 = shèn
Go deeper
All readings
extremely
very; extremely; to a great degree; more than
很；极；表示程度深，也表示超过。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 甚至shèn zhìeven; so much so that甚 = shèn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 甚 mean?
甚 (shèn) means very; extremely; to a great degree; more than.
How do you pronounce 甚?
It is pronounced shèn.
What parts is 甚 made of?
甘 (sweet) and 匹 (match; measure word for horses), one above the other. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 9 笔核验：甘 第 1–5 笔 + 匹 第 6–9 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 甚 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 甚?
甘. 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 甚?
Common ones are 甚至. The reading of 甚 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.