队 (duì) is a Chinese character meaning “a team or group”. It is written from 阝 (mound; left-side form of the radical 阜) and 人 (person), side by side, and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “team; line of people”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
阝 + 人
Left–right structure
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
- 人 person · rén simplified form
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data：阝 2 画 + 人 2 画 = 4 画）
Memory aid
People (人) lined up along the slope (阝) — a team is a queue of people waiting their turn.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 排队pái duìto line up; to queue队 = duì
- 队长duì zhǎngteam leader; captain队 = duì
- 军队jūn duìarmy; troops; armed forces队 = duì
- 纵队zòng duìcolumn; file (a line of people one behind another)队 = duì
- 队伍duì wǔtroops; ranks; a line of people队 = duìspoken asduì wu
- 队列duì lièformation; queue; line of people队 = duì
- 啦啦队lā lā duìcheerleading squad队 = duì
- 舰队jiàn duìfleet (of warships)队 = duì
Go deeper
All readings
team; line of people
a team or group; a line or queue of people; to line up
排成行列的人群；有共同任务的集体。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 排队pái duìto line up; to queue队 = duì
- 队长duì zhǎngteam leader; captain队 = duì
- 军队jūn duìarmy; troops; armed forces队 = duì
- 纵队zòng duìcolumn; file (a line of people one behind another)队 = duì
- 队伍duì wǔtroops; ranks; a line of people队 = duìspoken asduì wu
- 队列duì lièformation; queue; line of people队 = duì
- 啦啦队lā lā duìcheerleading squad队 = duì
- 舰队jiàn duìfleet (of warships)队 = duì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 队 mean?
队 (duì) means a team or group; a line or queue of people; to line up.
How do you pronounce 队?
It is pronounced duì.
What parts is 队 made of?
阝 (mound; left-side form of the radical 阜) and 人 (person), side by side. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data：阝 2 画 + 人 2 画 = 4 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 队 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 队?
阜. 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 队?
Common ones are 排队 and 队长. The reading of 队 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.