誰 meaning and stroke order
Who? whom? whose? anyone?
How to write 誰, stroke by stroke
15 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 誰
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- who
- also pr. [shui2]
How 誰 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Speech.
言 gives the meaning and 隹 hints at the sound.
Radical: 言 (words), shared by 155 characters on this site.
How to remember 誰
誰 combines 言 (speech) on the left with 隹 (zhuī, a short-tailed bird) on the right as a sound hint. Picture someone hearing a voice and asking "Who said that?" to a little bird nearby.
誰 is the traditional form of 谁 and is used to ask "who" or "whom". It stays in the same place in the sentence as the answer would, so word order does not change. Example: 他是誰？(Tā shì shéi?) Who is he?
Common mistake: Learners often move 誰 to the front of the sentence like English "who". In Chinese it stays where the person would go, so say 你找誰？(Nǐ zhǎo shéi?) for "Who are you looking for?" Also do not confuse the right side 隹 with 住 (zhù, to live), which has a person radical and fewer strokes.
Common words with 誰
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 誰
How many strokes are in 誰?
誰 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 誰 mean?
誰 (shuí) means who? whom? whose? anyone?. A common word with it is 谁知道 (shéi zhīdào), meaning "God knows...; Who would have imagined...?".
How do you pronounce 誰?
誰 is pronounced shuí, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 誰?
The radical of 誰 is 言, which carries the idea of "words". Dictionaries list 誰 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 誰?
誰 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 谁, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 誰 pronounced shéi or shuí?
Both are correct. Shéi is far more common in everyday speech, especially in mainland China and Taiwan. Shuí sounds more formal or literary.
Can 誰 mean "anyone" or "everyone"?
Yes. With 都 (dōu) or 也 (yě) it can mean everyone or no one, as in 誰都知道 (shéi dōu zhīdào), "everyone knows". It also appears in rhetorical phrases like 誰知道 (shéi zhīdào), "who knows" or "who would have imagined".