城 meaning and stroke order
City walls; city; town
How to write 城, stroke by stroke
9 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
- 8
- 9
Meaning of 城
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- city walls
- city
- town
How 城 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Earth.
土 gives the meaning and 成 hints at the sound.
Radical: 土 (soil), shared by 183 characters on this site.
How to remember 城
城 is pictophonetic: 土 (earth) on the left gives the meaning, and 成 (chéng) on the right gives the sound. Picture people piling up earth until a wall is complete (成), and inside that wall a city grows.
城 originally meant a city wall, and it still appears in words like 城墙 (chéngqiáng, city wall) and 长城 (Chángchéng, the Great Wall). Today it usually means city or town, most often in 城市 (chéngshì). Example: 我周末去城里买东西。(Wǒ zhōumò qù chénglǐ mǎi dōngxi.) I go into town on weekends to shop.
Common mistake: Learners often write 成 (chéng, to become) when they mean 城, because the two sound exactly the same. If the meaning is about a city or wall, it needs the 土 on the left.
Common words with 城
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 城市 | chéngshì | city; town | HSK 3 |
| 长城 | Chángchéng | the Great Wall | HSK 3 |
| 城里 | chénglǐ | HSK 5 | |
| 城镇 | chéngzhèn | town; cities and towns | HSK 6 |
| 城区 | chéngqū | city district; urban area | HSK 6 |
| 城乡 | chéng xiāng | city and countryside | HSK 6 |
| 商城 | shāngchéng | shopping center; department store | HSK 6 |
| 城墙 | chéngqiáng | city wall | HSK 7-9 |
| 众志成城 | zhòngzhì-chéngchéng | unity of will is an impregnable stronghold (idiom) | HSK 7-9 |
| 城堡 | chéngbǎo | castle; rook (chess piece) | |
| 进城 | jìnchéng | to go to town; to enter a big city (to live or work) | |
| 大城市 | dàchéngshì | major city; metropolis | |
| 全城 | quánchéng | whole city | |
| 城外 | chéngwài | outside of a city |
城 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 城
How many strokes are in 城?
城 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 城 mean?
城 (chéng) means city walls; city; town. A common word with it is 城市 (chéngshì), meaning "city; town".
How do you pronounce 城?
城 is pronounced chéng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 城?
The radical of 城 is 土, which carries the idea of "soil". Dictionaries list 城 under this radical.
Is 城 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 城 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
What is the difference between 城 and 城市?
城市 (chéngshì) is the normal everyday word for city. 城 alone is used mostly in set words and names, like 城里 (in town), 长城, or 商城 (shopping mall).
Why does 商城 mean a shopping mall and not a city?
In 商城 (shāngchéng), 城 suggests a large enclosed place full of shops, like a small city of stores. Many malls and online stores use 城 in their names for this reason.