How to write 白 (bái, “white”)
白 (bái), an HSK 1 character, means “white”, “in vain” and “free of charge”. Make Me a Hanzi uses it in 38 other characters, such as 百 (“hundred”) and 的 (“of”). On its own it is an HSK 5 word; it also forms 白天 (“daytime”), 白色 (“white”) and 明白 (“clear”). Japanese reads it haku, “white”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- bái
- Strokes
- 5
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 白 (“white”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and right → down and left
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- 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.
白 inside other characters
Make Me a Hanzi count: 38 characters.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| bái second tone | white; in vain; free of charge; (bound form) (of facts, the truth, a situation) clear; evident (e.g. 真相大白 (zhēnxiàngdàbái)); (bound form) plain; without additions (e.g. 白饭 (báifàn)) | — | 白天 白色 白酒 蛋白质 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 502 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 白
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 白 | bái | white; in vain HSK 5 |
| 白天 | báitiān | daytime; during the day HSK 1 |
| 白色 | báisè | white; fig. reactionary HSK 2 |
| 明白 | míngbai | clear; obvious HSK 3 |
| 白酒 | báijiǔ | baijiu, a spirit usually distilled from sorghum; white wine… HSK 4 |
| 蛋白质 蛋白質 | dànbáizhì | protein HSK 6 |
| 白领 白領 | báilǐng | white-collar; white-collar worker HSK 6 |
| 白白 | báibái | in vain; to no purpose HSK 6 |
| 对白 對白 | duìbái | dialogue HSK 7-9 |
| 表白 | biǎobái | to explain oneself; to express HSK 7-9 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Contain it:
HSK 1, in list order: