Mandarin grammar: Strokes

Mandarin characters are formed with strokes.

How many strokes are there in Mandarin?

There are around thirty strokes in total in Mandarin. Here are some of the basic strokes:

For many centuries the character 永 yǒng (forever) has been used to practice writing characters correctly, as it contains each of the basic strokes listed above:

How do you write strokes in Mandarin?

Strokes are written in a certain order in Mandarin to make characters quicker and easier to complete, and to help make them look the same each time:

1. Top to bottom

2. Left to right

3. Horizontal then vertical

4. Intersecting (a line that crosses another line) stroke last

5. Diagonal right to left

6. Diagonal left to right

7. Outside frame before inside

8. Inside before closing frame