审 (shěn) is a Chinese character meaning “to examine carefully”. It is written from 宀 (roof) and 申 (a boxed 日 with one vertical stroke driven straight through it; used as the sound part in 伸 / 神), one above the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “to examine”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
宀 + 申
Top–bottom structure
- 宀 roof · mián meaning
- 申 a boxed 日 with one vertical stroke driven straight through it; used as the sound part in 伸 / 神 · shēn simplified form
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿱宀申，已对照 hanzi-writer 笔顺数据核验：3+5=8 笔）
Memory aid
Under a roof (宀), a matter is stretched out and gone over line by line (申) — that is what it means to examine and review.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 审判shěn pànto try (a case); to put on trial; trial审 = shěn
- 审批shěn pīto examine and approve (an application)审 = shěn
Go deeper
All readings
to examine
to examine carefully; to review; to try (a legal case)
仔细查看、核对；也指法院审理案件。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 审判shěn pànto try (a case); to put on trial; trial审 = shěn
- 审批shěn pīto examine and approve (an application)审 = shěn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 审 mean?
审 (shěn) means to examine carefully; to review; to try (a legal case).
How do you pronounce 审?
It is pronounced shěn.
What parts is 审 made of?
宀 (roof) and 申 (a boxed 日 with one vertical stroke driven straight through it; used as the sound part in 伸 / 神), one above the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿱宀申，已对照 hanzi-writer 笔顺数据核验：3+5=8 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 审 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 审?
宀. 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 审?
Common ones are 审判 and 审批. The reading of 审 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.