What does 诉 mean in Chinese?

诉 is a Chinese character with the radical 讠.

How do you write 诉?

诉 is written with 7 strokes, starting from the 讠 (speech) 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 诉?

The radical of 诉 is 讠 (speech, Kangxi radical #149). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 话, 说, 认, 读.

How many strokes does 诉 have?

The Chinese character 诉 has 7 strokes.

What HSK level is 诉?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 诉 is a character to recognise at HSK 2.

诉: Chinese Character Details

诉

HSK 2 character 7 strokes Radical: 讠 (speech)

Quick Answer

诉 is a Chinese character with 7 strokes, radical 讠 (speech), HSK 2 on the new exam.

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

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

诉 is a phono-semantic compound, not a pictograph. The traditional form 訴 combines 言 (speech, showing a mouth with sound lines rising from it) with 斥 (to reject, push away) as phonetic. The simplified 诉 replaces 言 with the shorthand radical 讠 but keeps the same structure.

Form evolution

The 言 component appears in oracle bone and bronze script as a clear picture of a mouth with a tongue or sound. Through seal script 訴 stabilised with 言 on the left and 斥 on the right. Clerical script flattened the strokes into the recognisable square form, and the modern simplification cuts 言 down to the three-stroke 讠.

How the meaning evolved

Early meanings centred on formal complaint or accusation, reporting a grievance upward to an authority. This broadened to mean telling or informing in general, which is the dominant modern sense in words like 告诉. The legal sense survives in 起诉 (file suit) and 诉讼 (litigation).

Cultural note

Learners often confuse 告诉 gàosu (to tell someone) with 告状 gàozhuàng (to lodge a formal complaint), but both preserve the character's ancient courtroom flavour. The idiom 如泣如诉 (as if weeping, as if pleading) describes music so expressive it sounds like someone voicing a sorrow.