以 (yǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “to use”. It is written from ㇙ (vertical stroke that flicks up to the right at the bottom) and ㇔ (dot stroke) and 人 (person), side by side, and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “by means of”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇙ + ㇔ + 人
Left–right structure
- ㇙ vertical stroke that flicks up to the right at the bottom unknown
- ㇔ dot stroke unknown
- 人 person · rén unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+4EE5; modern decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry
Memory aid
A rising hook (㇙) with a dot (㇔) beside it, and a person (人) on the right: the person takes hold of that tool and uses it.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 可以kě yǐcan; may; be allowed to以 = yǐspoken aské yǐHSK 2
- 以前yǐ qiánbefore; previously; in the past以 = yǐHSK 3
- 予以yǔ yǐto give; to grant; to render以 = yǐspoken asyú yǐ
- 以及yǐ jías well as; and以 = yǐ
- 以后yǐ hòuafter; later; from now on以 = yǐ
- 所以suǒ yǐso; therefore; as a result以 = yǐspoken assuó yǐ
- 全力以赴quán lì yǐ fùto go all out; to spare no effort以 = yǐ
Go deeper
All readings
by means of
to use; by means of; with; according to; in order to
用；拿；凭借。也用来表示时间、方位的界限。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 可以kě yǐcan; may; be allowed to以 = yǐspoken aské yǐHSK 2
- 以前yǐ qiánbefore; previously; in the past以 = yǐHSK 3
- 予以yǔ yǐto give; to grant; to render以 = yǐspoken asyú yǐ
- 以及yǐ jías well as; and以 = yǐ
- 以后yǐ hòuafter; later; from now on以 = yǐ
- 所以suǒ yǐso; therefore; as a result以 = yǐspoken assuó yǐ
- 全力以赴quán lì yǐ fùto go all out; to spare no effort以 = yǐ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 以 mean?
以 (yǐ) means to use; by means of; with; according to; in order to.
How do you pronounce 以?
It is pronounced yǐ.
What parts is 以 made of?
㇙ (vertical stroke that flicks up to the right at the bottom) and ㇔ (dot stroke) and 人 (person), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+4EE5; modern decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 以 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 以?
人. 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 以?
Common ones are 可以 and 以前. The reading of 以 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.