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

pepper; hot, spicy; cruel 14 strokes · Radical (bitter) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 辣 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
辣 — 14 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 bitter
right to bind

Radical

The radical of is — meaning bitter. 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 (bitter) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 辣

spicy; hot (taste)
四川菜又辣又好吃。
Sìchuān cài yòu là yòu hǎochī.
Sichuan food is both spicy and delicious.

Tasks Featuring 辣 / 相关任务

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

📚 介绍饮食情况
Food & Dining ·

FAQ

What does 辣 mean in Chinese?

辣 (là) means pepper; hot, spicy; cruel. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 辣 have?

辣 is written in 14 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 辣?

The radical of 辣 is 辛 (bitter). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 辛.

What is the pinyin for 辣?

辣 is pronounced là.

What HSK 4 words use 辣?

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

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