The hand radical: 手 and 扌

手 shǒu means hand and has four strokes. On the left of a character it becomes 扌, a three-stroke form found in many action verbs such as 打 dǎ (hit), 拉 lā (pull), and 推 tuī (push).

The two forms

扌 is written with a horizontal stroke, a vertical stroke with a hook, and a rising stroke that crosses the vertical from lower left to upper right. Chinese speakers often call it 提手旁 tíshǒupáng when describing how a character is built.

An action clue

Many 扌 characters describe something you do with your hands:

• 打 dǎ: hit, also used for many actions such as 打电话 dǎ diànhuà (make a phone call)
• 拉 lā: pull
• 推 tuī: push
• 抱 bào: hug, carry in arms
• 找 zhǎo: look for

A useful trick: on a shop door you may see 推 and 拉. The shared 扌 tells you both are hand actions; the right side tells you which word it is.

The hand gives no sound

None of the examples above is read shǒu. Each character has its own reading: dǎ, lā, tuī, bào, zhǎo. 扌 tells you about meaning, not pronunciation, so learn every reading separately.

The clue is also loose. 把 bǎ is often a grammar word in sentences like 把门关上 bǎ mén guān shàng (close the door), and 报 bào means newspaper or report. Both contain 扌 without describing an obvious hand action.

Not every hand word uses 扌

Some hand-related characters put the full 手 at the bottom, as in 拿 ná (take). Others use different components. 取 qǔ (take, fetch) contains 又, a component often linked to hands, but no 扌. So a missing 扌 does not rule out a hand meaning.

Watch out for 才

才 cái (only then, just) looks very similar. Compare the last stroke:

• 扌 ends with a rising stroke toward the upper right.
• 才 ends with a falling stroke toward the lower left.

才 also stands alone as a full character, while 扌 appears only as part of another character.

Recognition drill

Which of these contain the hand component (扌 or 手)? 抱 才 拍 村 拿 提.

Next, compare 扌 with the other left-side forms in the person radical guide, or review the full starter list. The starter quiz includes 手.