What does 读 mean in Chinese?

读 (dú) means "to read, to study" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 1.

How do you write 读?

读 is written with 9 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 读?

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

How many strokes does 读 have?

The Chinese character 读 has 9 strokes.

What HSK level is 读?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 读 is a character to recognise at HSK 1.

读 (dú): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

读

dú

to read, to study

HSK 1 character 9 strokes Radical: 讠 (speech)

Quick Answer

读 (dú) means "to read, to study" with 9 strokes, radical 讠 (speech), HSK 1 on the new exam.

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

Pronunciation

dú

Meaning

Primary: to read

Other meanings:

to study

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

读 (traditional 讀) is a phono-semantic compound with no oracle-bone ancestor. It combines 言 (speech) as the semantic radical with 賣 (mài/yù, the older phonetic) on the right. The phonetic here is actually 𧶠 (yù, 'to sell loudly, to hawk wares'), which was visually similar to 賣 and eventually collapsed with it in later scripts.

Form evolution

The seal script form shows 言 on the left and a tall 𧶠 component on the right, with 士 above 买-like elements representing the phonetic. Clerical and regular scripts standardised the right side into 賣, giving traditional 讀. The simplified form 读 replaces 言 with 讠 and collapses the right side into 卖, dropping internal strokes and producing the eight-stroke modern character.

How the meaning evolved

The original sense was 'to recite aloud', which fits the phonetic 𧶠 (the loud call of a street vendor) and the speech radical 言. Classical texts use 读 specifically for reading out loud or chanting a text, as opposed to silent viewing, which was 看 or 閱. Modern Mandarin has broadened 读 to cover silent reading and, by extension, 'to study' (读书, 'to read books' = 'to study') and enrolment at a school (在北大读书).

Cultural note

The compound 读书 literally means 'read books' but for centuries has been the standard way to say 'to study' or 'to be a student', reflecting the Confucian identification of learning with the reading of classical texts. Learners sometimes assume 读 can replace 看 for general 'reading', but 看书 (silent reading) is far more common in spoken Mandarin than 读书.

Mnemonic

Words being sold — reading aloud

Decomposition

读=讠radical+卖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	dú
Meanings	to read, to study
Stroke count	9 strokes
Radical	讠 (#149: speech)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 1
Frequency	#330 most common

Example sentences

我喜欢读书。
Wǒ xǐhuan dú shū.
I like reading books.
From 读 (HSK 1)
我喜欢阅读。
Wǒ xǐhuan yuèdú.
I like reading.
From 阅读 (HSK 4)
学生们在课堂上轮流朗读课文练习发音语调。
Xuéshengmen zài kètáng shàng lúnliú lǎngdú kèwén liànxí fāyīn yǔdiào.
Students take turns reading the text aloud in class to practice pronunciation.
From 朗读 (HSK 6)

Words containing 读

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
读	dú	to read	HSK 1
阅读	yuèdú	Read	HSK 4
朗读	lǎngdú	Reading aloud	HSK 6
读书	dúshū	to read, to study	HSK 1
读物	dúwù	reading material	HSK 7-9
读者	dúzhě	reader	HSK 4