Where 等 comes from
Bamboo strips ⺮ laid before a court 寺
How to write 等 (děng, “to wait for”)
等 (děng), an HSK 2 character, means “to wait for”, “by the time” and “and so on”. It is HSK 2 in the 2025 syllabus, up from level 1 in the 2021 standard. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 等到 (“to wait until”), 等候 (“to wait”) and 等于 (“to equal”). Japanese reads it tou, “etc.”, as a JLPT N3 kanji.
- Pinyin
- děng
- Strokes
- 12
- HSK
- 2
- Radical
- ⺮ (“bamboo”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
As a top-bottom character it splits into ⺮ (“bamboo”, the radical), strokes 1–6; 寺 (“Buddhist temple”), strokes 7–12, written the top first.
- top leftdown and right → down and left
- top leftrightwards
- Dottop lefta dot
- topdown and right → down and left
- toprightwards
- topdown and right
- top leftrightwards
- topdownwards
- leftrightwards
- leftrightwards
- centerdownwards → leftwards
- bottom leftdown and right
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).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| děng third tone | to wait for; to await; by the time; when; till; and so on; etc.; et al.; (bound form) class; rank; grade; (bound form) equal to; same as | — | 等到 等候 等于 等待 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 2
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 4 word
- Words with it
- 127 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 等
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 等 | děng | to wait for; to await HSK 2 |
| 等到 | děngdào | to wait until; by the time when (sth is ready etc) HSK 4 |
| 等候 | děnghòu | to wait; to wait for HSK 5 |
| 等于 等於 | děngyú | to equal; to be tantamount to HSK 5 |
| 等待 | děngdài | to wait; to wait for HSK 5 |
| 中等 | zhōngděng | medium HSK 6 |
| 高等 | gāoděng | high-level; higher (animals, education etc) HSK 6 |
| 初等 | chūděng | elementary HSK 6 |
| 平等 | píngděng | equal; equality HSK 6 |
| 相等 | xiāngděng | equal; equally HSK 6 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.
Keep going
HSK 2, in list order: