材 (cái) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order
Pronunciation & meaning
Pronounced .
- timber
- material
- stuff
- talent
Stroke Order & Practice
Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.
Decomposition
材 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.
Radical
The radical of 材 is 木 — meaning tree. 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: 标村术案棒格棵林梦桥染森.
How the character is built
材 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 木 (wood) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 才 originally indicated the sound.
HSK 4 Words Containing 材
Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句
材 appears in 18 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:
Tasks Featuring 材 / 相关任务
Words containing 材 appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:
FAQ
What does 材 mean in Chinese?
材 (cái) means timber; material, stuff; talent. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).
How many strokes does 材 have?
材 is written in 7 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 材?
The radical of 材 is 木 (tree). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 标, 村, 术, 案, 棒.
What is the pinyin for 材?
材 is pronounced cái.
What HSK 4 words use 材?
In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 材 appears in 1 word, including 材料 (cáiliào). See the full list above.