删 meaning and stroke order
To delete
How to write 删, stroke by stroke
7 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
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Meaning of 删
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to delete
How 删 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. To cut 刂 out passages from a book 册.
Radical: 刂 (knife), shared by 71 characters on this site.
How to remember 删
On the left is 册 (cè), a book made of bound bamboo strips, and on the right is the knife 刂. Picture someone using a knife to cut passages out of a book, and you have 删 (shān), to delete.
删 is mostly used in compounds about removing text or files, such as 删除 (shānchú) and 删掉 (shāndiào). It is very common in everyday talk about phones and computers. Example: 我把那张照片删掉了。(Wǒ bǎ nà zhāng zhàopiàn shāndiào le.) I deleted that photo.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the left side as 用 or 冊 with the wrong number of vertical strokes, but in simplified 删 it is 册 with four vertical strokes joined by a horizontal line. Also keep the tone flat as first tone shān, not third tone shǎn like 闪 (to flash).
Common words with 删
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
删 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 删
How many strokes are in 删?
删 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 删 mean?
删 (shān) means to delete. A common word with it is 删除 (shānchú), meaning "to delete; to cancel".
How do you pronounce 删?
删 is pronounced shān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 删?
The radical of 删 is 刂, which carries the idea of "knife". Dictionaries list 删 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 删?
The traditional form of 删 is 刪. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 删 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 删 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 删 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 删除 and 删掉?
Both mean to delete. 删除 sounds more formal and is the word you see on buttons and in software menus. 删掉 is more conversational and stresses that the thing is gone.
Can 删 be used on its own?
Yes, especially in short commands or casual speech, for example 删了吧 (shān le ba), just delete it. It can also mean to cut or trim a text, as in 删减 (shānjiǎn), to abridge or cut down.