(cāo) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

cāo to conduct, to manage, to run 16 strokes · Radical (hand) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 操 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

Pronounced cāo.

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 12 13 14 15 16
操 — 16 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
left hand
right the sound of birds chirping

Radical

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

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: .

How the character is built

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

HSK 4 Words Containing 操

cāochǎng sports ground; playground
同学们在操场上跑步。
Tóngxuémen zài cāochǎng shàng pǎobù.
Students are running on the playground.

Tasks Featuring 操 / 相关任务

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

📚 交流校园生活
Campus Life · 操场

FAQ

What does 操 mean in Chinese?

操 (cāo) means to conduct, to manage, to run. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 操 have?

操 is written in 16 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 操?

The radical of 操 is 扌 (hand). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 抱, 技, 扔, 掉, 拉.

What is the pinyin for 操?

操 is pronounced cāo.

What HSK 4 words use 操?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 操 appears in 1 word, including 操场 (cāochǎng). See the full list above.

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