Where 司 comes from
A person speaking orders 口 and raising their arm
How to write 司 (sī, “to take charge of”)
司 (sī), an HSK 1 character, means “to take charge of”, “to manage” and “department”. It is HSK 1 in the 2025 syllabus, down from level 2 in the 2021 standard. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. Dictionaries list it under the radical 口 (“mouth”). Among the HSK words it appears in 公司 (“company”), 司机 (“chauffeur”) and 上司 (“boss”). Japanese reads it shi, “director”, as a JLPT N1 kanji.
- Pinyin
- sī
- Strokes
- 5
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 口 (“mouth”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- Horizontal-turn-hook ㇆top leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| sī first tone | to take charge of; to manage; department (under a ministry) | — | 公司 司机 司法 司空见惯 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 2
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 103 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 司
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 公司 | gōngsī | company; firm HSK 1 |
| 司机 司機 | sījī | chauffeur; driver HSK 3 |
| 上司 | shàngsi | boss; superior HSK 7-9 |
| 司法 | sīfǎ | judicial; (administration of) justice HSK 7-9 |
| 司空见惯 司空見慣 | sīkōng-jiànguàn | a common occurrence (idiom) HSK 7-9 |
| 司令 | sīlìng | commanding officer HSK 7-9 |
| 官司 | guānsi | lawsuit HSK 7-9 |
| 前司 | qiánsī | previous company one worked at |
| 我司 | wǒsī | our company (used in business correspondence, contracts etc)… |
| 贵司 貴司 | guìsī | (courteous) your company |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
Contain it:
HSK 1, in list order: