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

to clean, to erase, to polish; a brush 17 strokes · Radical (hand) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 擦 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 .

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 17
擦 — 17 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 to examine

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 擦

to wipe; to rub
请把桌子擦干净。
Qǐng bǎ zhuōzi cā gānjìng.
Please wipe the table clean.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 14 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

看图,用“”造句。
From Mock Exam 17 →
但是公司开会的时候,他一定会换上很正式的西服,皮鞋也得亮亮的。
From Mock Exam 10 →

FAQ

What does 擦 mean in Chinese?

擦 (cā) means to clean, to erase, to polish; a brush. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 擦 have?

擦 is written in 17 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 擦?

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

What is the pinyin for 擦?

擦 is pronounced cā.

What HSK 4 words use 擦?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 擦 appears in 1 word, including 擦 (cā). See the full list above.

All Characters cāi →