字Study Chinese Characters
目

mù eye

5 strokes

目 (mù) is a Chinese character meaning “eye”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 二 (two), one enclosing the other, and takes 5 strokes.

Build the character for “eye”

Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.

Start
Learn this character

Structure

口 + 二

Enclosing structure

  • 口 mouth · kǒu unknown
  • 二 two · èr unknown

Structure from: modern glyph decomposition (⿴口二), verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 0,1,4 close the 口 frame; strokes 2,3 are the two 一 of 二 inside)

Memory aid

A frame (口) standing upright with two lines (二) inside it. Count the lines: one line in the frame is the sun 日, two lines is an eye 目 looking straight at you.

This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.

Stroke order

5 strokes

In real words

  • 目前mù qiánat present; currently目 = mùHSK 4
  • 节目jié mùprogram; show; item on a program目 = mùHSK 3
  • 目的mù dìpurpose; goal目 = mùHSK 3
  • 炫目xuàn mùdazzling; blinding to the eye目 = mù
  • 琳琅满目lín láng mǎn mùa dazzling array of beautiful things; a feast for the eyes目 = mù
  • 目标mù biāogoal; target; objective目 = mùHSK 4
  • 项目xiàng mùproject; item目 = mùHSK 4
Go deeper

All readings

mù main reading

eye

eye; to look at; item, entry (in a list); catalogue

眼睛。也表示看，或表格、名单里的一个条目。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 目前mù qiánat present; currently目 = mùHSK 4
  • 节目jié mùprogram; show; item on a program目 = mùHSK 3
  • 目的mù dìpurpose; goal目 = mùHSK 3
  • 炫目xuàn mùdazzling; blinding to the eye目 = mù
  • 琳琅满目lín láng mǎn mùa dazzling array of beautiful things; a feast for the eyes目 = mù
  • 目标mù biāogoal; target; objective目 = mùHSK 4
  • 项目xiàng mùproject; item目 = mùHSK 4

Other characters with these parts

口 → 中串兄免兑加占古

二 → 于亏云些仁元击垂

Easy to confuse with

日自

Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions

Questions people ask about this character

What does 目 mean?

目 (mù) means eye; to look at; item, entry (in a list); catalogue.

How do you pronounce 目?

It is pronounced mù.

What parts is 目 made of?

口 (mouth) and 二 (two), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: modern glyph decomposition (⿴口二), verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 0,1,4 close the 口 frame; strokes 2,3 are the two 一 of 二 inside). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.

How many strokes does 目 have?

5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 目?

目. 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 目?

Common ones are 目前 and 节目. The reading of 目 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.