How to write 九 (jiǔ, “nine”)
九 (jiǔ), an HSK 1 character, means “nine” and “9”. It is the number 9. As an overlapping character it splits into 丿 (“slash”), stroke 1; 乙 (“second”, the radical), stroke 2, written the first part first. On its own it is an HSK 1 word, and it forms 九十 (“ninety”), 九天 (“the ninth heaven”) and 十九 (“nineteen”). Japanese reads it kyuu, “nine”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- jiǔ
- Strokes
- 2
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 乙 (“second”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Horizontal-turn-curve-hook ㇈leftrightwards → downwards → rightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 2 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
九 in numbers
- 九十 — ninety
- 九天 — the ninth heaven
- 十九 — nineteen
- 三九天 — the twenty seven days after the Winter…
- 九零后 — 90s generation
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| jiǔ third tone | nine; 9 | — | 九十 九天 十九 三九天 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 58 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 九
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 九 | jiǔ | nine; 9 HSK 1 |
| 九十 | jiǔshí | ninety |
| 九天 | jiǔtiān | the ninth heaven; the highest of the heavens |
| 十九 | shíjiǔ | nineteen; 19 |
| 三九天 | sānjiǔtiān | the twenty seven days after the Winter Solstice, reputed to be the… |
| 九零后 九零後 | jiǔlínghòu | 90s generation |
| 小九九 | xiǎojiǔjiǔ | multiplication tables; plan |
| 十有八九 | shíyǒubājiǔ | most likely; mostly |
| 交九 | jiāojiǔ | the coldest period of the year; three nine day periods after the… |
| 九号球 九號球 | jiǔhàoqiú | nine-ball (billiards game) |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 1, in list order: