阶 (jiē) is a Chinese character meaning “a step”. It is written from 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 介 (to be between; to interpose (in 价 it is the sound part)), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “step; stair”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
阝 + 介
Left–right structure
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
- 介 to be between; to interpose (in 价 it is the sound part) · jiè sound
Structure from: ids-decomposition (现代字形 ⿰阝介；笔画核验 2+4=6，与 hanzi-writer-data 一致)
Memory aid
The mound radical 阝 is the slope you have to climb; 介 stands on the right and tells you the sound. Cut steps into the slope and you get 阶 — a stair.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 台阶tái jiēsteps; a flight of steps阶 = jiē
- 阶段jiē duànstage; phase阶 = jiē
Go deeper
All readings
step; stair
a step; a stair; by extension, a stage or rank in a sequence
台阶；楼梯的一级。引申指等级或事物发展的段落。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 台阶tái jiēsteps; a flight of steps阶 = jiē
- 阶段jiē duànstage; phase阶 = jiē
Sound component
介 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 阶 mean?
阶 (jiē) means a step; a stair; by extension, a stage or rank in a sequence.
How do you pronounce 阶?
It is pronounced jiē.
What parts is 阶 made of?
阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 介 (to be between; to interpose (in 价 it is the sound part)), side by side. The recorded source is: ids-decomposition (现代字形 ⿰阝介；笔画核验 2+4=6，与 hanzi-writer-data 一致). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 阶 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 阶?
阝. 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 阶?
Common ones are 台阶 and 阶段. The reading of 阶 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.