净 (jìng) is a Chinese character meaning “clean”. It is written from 冫 (ice; two dots of ice) and 争 (to contend; to fight for), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “clean”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
冫 + 争
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿰冫争，2+6=8 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源
Memory aid
Two drops of ice (冫) next to 争 — water so clear and cold that nothing is left floating in it. Clean.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 干净gān jìngclean净 = jìng
- 净化jìng huàto purify净 = jìng
- 洁净jié jìngclean; spotless净 = jìng
Go deeper
All readings
clean
clean; pure; net (of an amount); only; merely
清洁，没有杂质；也表示除去损耗后剩下的，或「只、全是」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 干净gān jìngclean净 = jìng
- 净化jìng huàto purify净 = jìng
- 洁净jié jìngclean; spotless净 = jìng
Sound component
争 family diverged
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 净 mean?
净 (jìng) means clean; pure; net (of an amount); only; merely.
How do you pronounce 净?
It is pronounced jìng.
What parts is 净 made of?
冫 (ice; two dots of ice) and 争 (to contend; to fight for), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿰冫争，2+6=8 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 净 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 净?
冫. 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 净?
Common ones are 干净 and 净化. The reading of 净 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.