How to write 老 (lǎo, “prefix”)

老 (lǎo), an HSK 1 character, means “prefix”, “old” and “venerable”. It is a picture-like character. On its own it is an HSK 3 word; it also forms 老师 (“teacher”), 老人 (“old man or woman”) and 老家 (“native place”). Japanese reads it rou, “old man”, as a JLPT N3 kanji.

Pinyin: lǎo
Strokes: 6
HSK: 1
Radical: 老 (“prefix”)

Stroke by stroke

As a top-bottom character it splits into 耂 (“old”), strokes 1–4; 匕 (“spoon”), strokes 5–6, written the top first.

Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
Vertical ㇑topdownwards
Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
Left-falling stroke ㇒top rightdown and left
Left-falling stroke ㇒rightleftwards
Vertical-curve-hook ㇟centerdown and right → up and right

Names of the strokes

Japanese and Chinese

Japanese and Chinese draw all 6 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.

Japanese · KanjiVG · 6 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 6 strokes

Where 老 comes from

A person bent over with long hair 匕 and a crutch; compare 耂

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
lǎo third tone	prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people); venerable (person); experienced; of long standing	—	老师老人老家老年

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 1
2021 standard: level 1
HSK 2.0: in a level 1 word
Words with it: 327 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 老

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
老	lǎo	prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating… HSK 3
老师老師	lǎoshī	teacher HSK 1
老人	lǎorén	old man or woman; the elderly HSK 3
老家	lǎojiā	native place; place of origin HSK 4
老年	lǎonián	elderly; old age HSK 4
老是	lǎoshì	always HSK 4
老虎	lǎohǔ	tiger HSK 4
老公	lǎogōng	husband HSK 5
老百姓	lǎobǎixìng	ordinary people; the "person in the street" HSK 5
老板老闆	lǎobǎn	boss; proprietor HSK 5

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.

Keep going

HSK 1, in list order: