Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.
学xuéto learn
⺍small form of 小 · xiǎo
冖cover · mì
子child · zǐ
Memory aidA roof 冖 over a child 子 at study.
生shēngto grow; to give birth; to producelight in 学生
生 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
Memory aidA shoot growing up out of the soil 土: to grow, to be born.
How to write 学生
学 8 strokes · 生 5 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 学生 (xuésheng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
学生 (xuésheng) means “student” or “schoolchild”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it xuésheng: xué with a 2nd tone, then sheng with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 学生 is written 學生. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xuesheng with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 学生 from the suggestions. Typing xuesheng into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
学生 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.
学xué2nd tone, rising
生shengneutral tone, light and short
