What does 还 mean in Chinese?

还 (huán) means "to return" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 1.

How do you write 还?

还 is written with 7 strokes, starting from the 辶 (walk) 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 还?

The radical of 还 is 辶 (walk, Kangxi radical #162). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 道, 过, 通, 运.

How many strokes does 还 have?

The Chinese character 还 has 7 strokes.

What HSK level is 还?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 还 is a character to recognise at HSK 1 and to write by hand at HSK 2 (the handwriting list HSK 1 and 2 share).

还 (huán): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

还

huán

to return

HSK 1 character 7 strokes Radical: 辶 (walk)

Quick Answer

还 (huán) means "to return" with 7 strokes, radical 辶 (walk), HSK 1 on the new exam.

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

Pronunciation

huán

Meaning

Primary: to return

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

还 (traditional 還) is a phono-semantic compound. The original form combined 辵 (movement, the walking radical now written 辶) with 睘 as the phonetic, which itself depicted an eye above a ring-shaped ornament. The character was built to mean 'to return along a path,' with 辵 supplying the sense of going and 睘 supplying the sound.

Form evolution

Bronze and seal forms show 辵 on the left and a full 睘 component on the right, with the eye and ring clearly separable. Clerical script flattened 辵 into the three-stroke 辶 and began abbreviating 睘. The PRC simplification of 1956 replaced the complex right side entirely with 不, producing the modern 还 and cutting stroke count from 16 to 7.

How the meaning evolved

The earliest attested sense is 'to return, go back,' still alive in 还乡 (return to one's hometown) and 归还 (give back). From 'return' came 'do again,' and from 'do again' came the adverbial 'still, yet' (hái) that dominates modern speech. The two readings split: huán keeps the verbal 'return/repay' meaning, hái carries 'still, also, even.'

Cultural note

Learners routinely mix up the two readings. 还书 read huán shū means 'return a book,' but 还在看书 read hái zài kàn shū means 'still reading.' The spelling is identical; only context and tone disambiguate.

Mnemonic

Walking back from not — still, also to return

Decomposition

还=不component+辶radical

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

Basic info

Pinyin	huán
Meanings	to return
Stroke count	7 strokes
Radical	辶 (#162: walk)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 1, write by hand at HSK 1-2
Frequency	#587 most common

Example sentences

我要去图书馆还书。
Wǒ yào qù túshūguǎn huán shū.
I need to go to the library to return the book.
From 还 (HSK 1)
我还是喜欢这里。
Wǒ háishì xǐhuan zhèlǐ.
I still like it here.
From 还是 (HSK 2)
买东西时我喜欢讨价还价。
Mǎi dōngxi shí wǒ xǐhuan tǎojiàhuánjià.
When shopping, I like to bargain.
From 讨价还价 (HSK 7-9)