曹 meaning and stroke order
Ministers, officials; a company; surname
How to write 曹, stroke by stroke
11 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
- 10
- 11
Meaning of 曹
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- class or grade
- generation
- plaintiff and defendant (old)
- government department (old)
How 曹 is built
Components of the character.
Radical: 曰 (to speak), shared by 14 characters on this site.
How to remember 曹
Picture the top part of 曹 (cáo) as a busy row of desks in a government office, sitting above 日, the sun or a day of work. Officials working side by side all day under one roof gives you the old meaning of a department or a group of officials.
Today 曹 is used almost only as a surname, most famously Cao Cao 曹操 (Cáo Cāo) of the Three Kingdoms period. The old meanings like "group" or "department" appear mainly in classical texts and set phrases. Example: 他姓曹。(Tā xìng Cáo.) His surname is Cao.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 曹 with 槽 (cáo, trough) and 遭 (zāo, to meet with), which contain 曹 as a part. Remember that 遭 is first tone, while 曹 and 槽 are second tone.
曹 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 曹
Learning 曹 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 曹
How many strokes are in 曹?
曹 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 曹 mean?
曹 (cáo) means ministers, officials; a company; surname.
How do you pronounce 曹?
曹 is pronounced cáo, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 曹?
The radical of 曹 is 曰, which carries the idea of "to speak". Dictionaries list 曹 under this radical.
Is 曹 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 曹 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Who is 曹操 and why is he so well known?
曹操 (Cáo Cāo) was a powerful warlord at the end of the Han dynasty and a central figure in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The saying 说曹操，曹操就到 (shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo jiù dào) means "speak of the devil".
What does 尔曹 or 吾曹 mean in classical Chinese?
In classical Chinese, 曹 can mean a group or generation of people. 尔曹 (ěr cáo) means "you people" and 吾曹 (wú cáo) means "we" or "our kind". These forms are not used in everyday modern speech.