犬 meaning and stroke order
Dog
How to write 犬, stroke by stroke
4 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
Meaning of 犬
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) dog
- Kangxi radical 94
How 犬 is built
Pictographic character. A dog turned to the side.
How to remember 犬
犬 (quǎn) began as a picture of a dog turned on its side. Today it looks like 大 (dà, big) with an extra dot near the top right, so picture a big animal with one perky ear: a dog.
犬 is the literary or formal word for dog. In everyday speech people say 狗 (gǒu), but 犬 appears in set terms for types of dogs and in written language. Example: 这是一只警犬。(Zhè shì yì zhī jǐngquǎn.) This is a police dog.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 犬 with 太 (tài). Both are 大 plus a dot, but 太 has the dot at the bottom and 犬 has it at the upper right. Another trap is using 犬 alone in casual speech, where 狗 (gǒu) sounds much more natural.
Common words with 犬
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 猎犬 | lièquǎn | hound; hunting dog | HSK 7-9 |
| 警犬 | jǐngquǎn | police dog | |
| 狂犬病 | kuángquǎnbìng | rabies | |
| 牧羊犬 | mùyángquǎn | sheepdog |
犬 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 犬
Learning 犬 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 犬
How many strokes are in 犬?
犬 is written with 4 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 犬 mean?
犬 (quǎn) means dog. A common word with it is 猎犬 (lièquǎn), meaning "hound; hunting dog".
How do you pronounce 犬?
犬 is pronounced quǎn, in the third tone (dipping).
Is 犬 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 犬 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 犬 and 狗?
Both mean dog. 狗 (gǒu) is the normal spoken word, while 犬 (quǎn) is literary and used in fixed compounds like 猎犬 (lièquǎn, hunting dog) and 牧羊犬 (mùyángquǎn, sheepdog).
Why do so many animal characters have the 犭 component?
犭 is the side form of 犬 used when the radical sits on the left of a character. It shows up in characters such as 狗 (gǒu, dog), linking them to the meaning of animals.