所 (suǒ) is a Chinese character meaning “place”. It is written from 户 (door; household) and 斤 (catty (unit of weight)), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “place”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
户 + 斤
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 所，伐木聲也。从斤，戶聲
Memory aid
A door (户) with an axe (斤) beside it — the one spot where the woodcutter works. Both parts are really in this character, and it means the place where something happens.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 厕所cè suǒtoilet; restroom所 = suǒ
- 所以suǒ yǐso; therefore; as a result所 = suǒspoken assuó yǐ
- 所谓suǒ wèiso-called; what is called所 = suǒ
Go deeper
All readings
place
place; location; (measure word for buildings); that which
处所、地方；也用作量词和结构助词。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 厕所cè suǒtoilet; restroom所 = suǒ
- 所以suǒ yǐso; therefore; as a result所 = suǒspoken assuó yǐ
- 所谓suǒ wèiso-called; what is called所 = suǒ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 所 mean?
所 (suǒ) means place; location; (measure word for buildings); that which.
How do you pronounce 所?
It is pronounced suǒ.
What parts is 所 made of?
户 (door; household) and 斤 (catty (unit of weight)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 所，伐木聲也。从斤，戶聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 所 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 所?
户. 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 所?
Common ones are 厕所 and 所以. The reading of 所 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.