(chí / shī) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

chí / shī spoon; surname 11 strokes · Radical (spoon) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 匙 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

This character has 2 readings: chíshī. The reading depends on which word the character appears in.

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
匙 — 11 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Lower-left envelops Inner. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
outer to be
inner spoon

Radical

The radical of is — meaning spoon. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

How the character is built

is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component (spoon) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 匙

yàoshi key
我忘记带钥匙了。
Wǒ wàngjì dài yàoshi le.
I forgot to bring my keys.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 20 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

大门钥只有一个。
From Mock Exam 17 →
看图,用“钥”造句。
From Mock Exam 15 →
一猜就知道是和我一起租房的那个人又没带钥
From Mock Exam 03 →

Tasks Featuring 匙 / 相关任务

Words containing appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:

📚 交流居住情况、社区情况
Housing & Community · 钥匙

FAQ

What does 匙 mean in Chinese?

匙 (chí / shī) means spoon; surname. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 匙 have?

匙 is written in 11 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 匙?

The radical of 匙 is 匕 (spoon).

What is the pinyin for 匙?

匙 has 2 readings: chí, shī. Which reading applies depends on the word the character appears in.

What HSK 4 words use 匙?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 匙 appears in 1 word, including 钥匙 (yàoshi). See the full list above.

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