谁 (shéi) is a Chinese character meaning “who”. It is written from 讠 (speech radical) and 隹 (short-tailed bird), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “who”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
讠 + 隹
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 誰，何也。从言隹聲 (简化后 言→讠)
Memory aid
The speech radical (讠) beside a short-tailed bird (隹): you hear a voice behind the bird and ask — who is speaking?
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 谁的shéi dewhose谁 = shéi
Questions people ask about this character
What does 谁 mean?
谁 (shéi) means who; whom; anyone; someone.
How do you pronounce 谁?
It is pronounced shéi.
What parts is 谁 made of?
讠 (speech radical) and 隹 (short-tailed bird), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 誰，何也。从言隹聲 (简化后 言→讠). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 谁 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 谁?
讠. 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 谁?
Common ones are 谁的. The reading of 谁 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.