Where 我 comes from
A hand 扌 holding a weapon 戈
How to write 我 (wǒ, “I”)
我 (wǒ), an HSK 1 character, means “I”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 我们 (“we”), 自我 (“the self”) and 你我 (“you and I”). Japanese reads it ga, “ego”, as a JLPT N1 kanji.
- Pinyin
- wǒ
- Strokes
- 7
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 戈 (“spear”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
As a left-right character it splits into 扌 (“hand”), strokes 1 and 3–4; 戈 (“spear”, the radical), strokes 2 and 5–7, written with the strokes of the parts interleaved.
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topleftwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical hook ㇚top leftdownwards → up and left
- Rising stroke ㇀bottom leftrightwards
- Slanted hook ㇂topdown and right → upwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒rightdownwards → down and left
- Dot ㇔top rightdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 7 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| wǒ third tone | I; me; my | — | 我们 自我 你我 大我 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 56 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 我
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 我 | wǒ | I; me HSK 1 |
| 我们 我們 | wǒmen | we; us HSK 1 |
| 自我 | zìwǒ | the self; oneself HSK 6 |
| 你我 | nǐwǒ | you and I; everyone |
| 大我 | dàwǒ | the collective; the whole |
| 小我 | xiǎowǒ | the self; the individual |
| 我人 | wǒrén | we |
| 我司 | wǒsī | our company (used in business correspondence, contracts etc)… |
| 我国 我國 | wǒguó | my country; our country |
| 本我 | běnwǒ | id; the self |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.
Keep going
HSK 1, in list order: