What does 答 mean in Chinese?

答 (dā) means "to answer, to reply" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 3.

How do you write 答?

答 is written with 12 strokes, starting from the 竹 (bamboo) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 答?

The radical of 答 is 竹 (bamboo, Kangxi radical #118). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 等, 笑, 算, 竹.

How many strokes does 答 have?

The Chinese character 答 has 12 strokes.

What HSK level is 答?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 答 is a character to recognise at HSK 3 and to write by hand at HSK 3.

答 (dā): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

答

dā

to answer, to reply

HSK 3 character 12 strokes Radical: 竹 (bamboo)

Quick Answer

答 (dā) means "to answer, to reply" with 12 strokes, radical 竹 (bamboo), HSK 3 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 答 →Animated stroke-order for 答 →

Pronunciation

dā

Meaning

Primary: to answer

Other meanings:

to reply

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

答 is not attested in oracle bone or bronze script. It is a later phono-semantic compound with 竹 (bamboo) as the semantic element and 合 (hé) as the phonetic. The bamboo radical reflects the historical use of bamboo slips as writing material, so 答 originally referred to a written reply on such a slip.

Form evolution

The character appears in seal script with 竹 above 合 and has remained structurally unchanged through clerical and regular script. An older variant 荅, with the grass radical 艹 instead of 竹, is attested earlier and originally referred to a type of small bean; the two characters were conflated and differentiated, with 答 settling on the 'reply' sense.

How the meaning evolved

The core meaning 'to reply, to respond' has been stable since the character was fixed in this form. Extensions include 'to return a favour' (报答), 'to match or correspond' (in classical usage), and in the modern language the straightforward pairing of 问 and 答 (question and answer). 回答 and 答应 are both high-frequency modern compounds.

Cultural note

The split between 答 (reply) and 荅 (bean) is a classic example of graphic differentiation, where one form is narrowed to a specific sense while a variant takes over the other. In formal Chinese, 答 is still read dá for 'reply' but dā in 答应 ('to agree, to answer a call'), a tone distinction learners often miss.

Mnemonic

Bamboo sticks joined — to answer

Decomposition

答=竹radical+合component

Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.

Basic info

Pinyin	dā
Meanings	to answer, to reply
Stroke count	12 strokes
Radical	竹 (#118: bamboo)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 3, write by hand at HSK 3
Frequency	#282 most common

Example sentences

请回答我的问题。
Qǐng huídá wǒ de wèntí.
Please answer my question.
From 回答 (HSK 3)
你知道这道题的答案吗？
Nǐ zhīdào zhè dào tí de dá'àn ma?
Do you know the answer to this question?
From 答案 (HSK 4)
他答应帮我搬家。
Tā dāying bāng wǒ bānjiā.
He agreed to help me move.
From 答应 (HSK 4)

Words containing 答

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
回答	huídá	Answer	HSK 3
答案	dá'àn	Answer	HSK 4
答应	dāying	promise	HSK 4
答	dā	to answer, to reply	HSK 4
答辩	dábiàn	to reply (to a charge)	HSK 7-9
答复	dáfù	to answer, to reply	HSK 6