九 (jiǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “nine”. It is written from 丿 (left-falling stroke) and 乙 (second Heavenly Stem), and takes 2 strokes.
Build the character for “nine”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丿 + 乙
Overlapping structure
Structure from: makemeahanzi dictionary modern decomposition candidate, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke paths
Memory aid
A left-falling stroke (丿) crosses the bent stroke (乙), forming nine (九).
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
2 strokes
In real words
- 九月jiǔ yuèSeptember九 = jiǔ
Go deeper
Questions people ask about this character
What does 九 mean?
九 (jiǔ) means nine; the number 9.
How do you pronounce 九?
It is pronounced jiǔ.
What parts is 九 made of?
丿 (left-falling stroke) and 乙 (second Heavenly Stem). The recorded source is: makemeahanzi dictionary modern decomposition candidate, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke paths. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 九 have?
2. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 九?
乙. 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 九?
Common ones are 九月. The reading of 九 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.