How to write 期 (qī, “a period of time”)

期 (qī), an HSK 1 character, means “a period of time”, “phase” and “stage”. It pairs a meaning part, 月 (“moon or flesh”), with a sound part, 其 (“his”). On its own it is an HSK 4 word; it also forms 星期 (“week”), 星期天 (“Sunday”) and 星期日 (“Sunday”). Japanese reads it ki, “period”, as a JLPT N3 kanji.

Pinyin: qī
Strokes: 12
HSK: 1
Radical: 月 (“moon or flesh”)

Stroke by stroke

As a left-right character it splits into 其 (“his”), strokes 1–8; 月 (“moon or flesh”, the radical), strokes 9–12, written the left part first.

top leftrightwards
top leftdownwards
topdownwards
Dotlefta dot
Dotlefta dot
leftrightwards
bottom leftdown and left
bottomdown and right
topdownwards → down and left
top rightrightwards → downwards
rightrightwards
centerrightwards

Names of the strokes

Japanese and Chinese

The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (12 strokes in Japanese, 12 strokes in Chinese).

Japanese · KanjiVG · 12 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 12 strokes

Where 期 comes from

moon

Meaning part: 月 (“moon or flesh”)
Sound part: 其 (“his”)

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
qī first tone	a period of time; phase; stage; classifier for issues of a periodical, courses of study; time	—	星期星期天星期日学期

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 1
2021 standard: level 1
HSK 2.0: in a level 1 word
Words with it: 233 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 期

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
期	qī	a period of time; phase HSK 4
星期	xīngqī	week; day of the week HSK 1
星期天	xīngqītiān	Sunday HSK 1
星期日	xīngqīrì	Sunday HSK 1
学期學期	xuéqī	term; semester HSK 3
假期	jiàqī	holiday period; vacation HSK 3
日期	rìqī	date HSK 4
期中	qīzhōng	interim; midterm HSK 4
期末	qīmò	the end of a term or semester HSK 4
中期	zhōngqī	middle; medium-term (plan, forecast etc) HSK 5

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

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Keep going

HSK 1, in list order: