势 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “power”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 丸 (ball; pellet) and 力 (strength; power), one above the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “power; momentum; the way things are heading”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 丸 + 力
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字 勢: 从力 (semantic 力 retained in the simplified glyph); simplified 势 upper part 执 verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 eight-stroke glyph: strokes 1-6 match 执 (扌 strokes 1-3 + 丸 strokes 4-6), strokes 7-8 form 力. The traditional phonetic 埶 is not present in the modern shape, so no phonetic role is claimed.
Memory aid
A hand (扌) grips a ball (丸) and puts force (力) behind it. The gathered push in the instant before the throw — that stored momentum is 势.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 优势yōu shìadvantage; superiority; upper hand势 = shì
- 姿势zī shìposture; stance; the way one holds the body势 = shì
- 劣势liè shìinferior position; disadvantage势 = shì
- 趋势qū shìtrend; tendency势 = shì
Go deeper
All readings
power; momentum; situation
power; influence; momentum; the way a situation is heading; posture or set of the body
权力和影响力；事物发展的趋向和劲头；也指身体摆出的样子。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 优势yōu shìadvantage; superiority; upper hand势 = shì
- 姿势zī shìposture; stance; the way one holds the body势 = shì
- 劣势liè shìinferior position; disadvantage势 = shì
- 趋势qū shìtrend; tendency势 = shì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 势 mean?
势 (shì) means power; influence; momentum; the way a situation is heading; posture or set of the body.
How do you pronounce 势?
It is pronounced shì.
What parts is 势 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 丸 (ball; pellet) and 力 (strength; power), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字 勢: 从力 (semantic 力 retained in the simplified glyph); simplified 势 upper part 执 verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 eight-stroke glyph: strokes 1-6 match 执 (扌 strokes 1-3 + 丸 strokes 4-6), strokes 7-8 form 力. The traditional phonetic 埶 is not present in the modern shape, so no phonetic role is claimed.. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 势 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 势?
力. 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 势?
Common ones are 优势, 姿势, 劣势. The reading of 势 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.