芹 meaning and stroke order
Celery
How to write 芹, 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.
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Meaning of 芹
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Chinese celery
How 芹 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Plant.
艹 gives the meaning and 斤 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 芹
芹 is a plant word: the grass radical 艹 on top tells you it is a plant, and 斤 (jīn) below gives the sound, close to qín. Picture a bunch of celery weighed on a market scale by the 斤, the Chinese unit of weight.
芹 almost always appears in the word 芹菜 (qíncài), the everyday word for celery. You will see it on menus and in stir-fry dishes. Example: 我喜欢吃芹菜炒肉。(Wǒ xǐhuan chī qíncài chǎo ròu.) I like stir-fried celery with pork.
Common mistake: Learners often read 芹 as jīn because of the 斤 part, but the correct sound is qín with a second tone. Also do not confuse it with 斥 (chì), which has an extra dot inside and no grass radical.
Common words with 芹
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 芹菜 | qíncài | celery (Apium graveolens) |
芹 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 芹
How many strokes are in 芹?
芹 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 芹 mean?
芹 (qín) means celery. A common word with it is 芹菜 (qíncài), meaning "celery (Apium graveolens)".
How do you pronounce 芹?
芹 is pronounced qín, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 芹?
The radical of 芹 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 芹 under this radical.
Is 芹 used on its own to mean celery?
Rarely. In everyday speech people say 芹菜 (qíncài). The single character mostly appears inside words and names.
What is the difference between 芹菜 and 西芹?
芹菜 is the general word and often refers to the thinner Chinese celery. 西芹 (xīqín) means Western celery, the thicker stalks common in Western supermarkets.