丶 meaning and stroke order
Dot
How to write 丶, stroke by stroke
1 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
Meaning of 丶
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- "dot" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 3), aka 點|点[dian3]
How to remember 丶
丶 is just a single small dot, the same mark your brush leaves when it touches the paper and lifts. Picture one drop of ink, and you have both the shape and the meaning.
丶 is not used as a word on its own. It appears as a stroke and as Kangxi radical 3 inside characters such as 主 (zhǔ), 丸 (wán), and 为 (wèi). When people talk about the dot stroke, they say 点 (diǎn), as in 这个字上面有一点 (zhège zì shàngmian yǒu yì diǎn), "This character has a dot on top."
Common mistake: Learners often write the dot as a flat dash or a straight vertical tick. It should slant down to the right and get slightly heavier at the end, like a small teardrop. Also, in everyday speech use 点 (diǎn) for "dot," not 丶, which mostly shows up in dictionaries and radical charts.
Characters that contain 丶
Learning 丶 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 丶
How many strokes are in 丶?
丶 is written with 1 stroke. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 丶 mean?
丶 (diǎn) means dot.
How do you pronounce 丶?
丶 is pronounced diǎn, in the third tone (dipping).
Why is 丶 sometimes read zhǔ instead of diǎn?
The dictionary lists zhǔ as the traditional reading of 丶 as a radical, and diǎn is the everyday name because it is the dot stroke, written 点 (diǎn). Most speakers simply call it 点 (diǎn).
Which characters contain the dot as their radical?
Characters filed under the 丶 radical include 主 (zhǔ, master), 丸 (wán, pill), and 丹 (dān, red). In many other characters the dot is just one stroke and not the radical, as in 六 (liù) or 文 (wén).