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How to write 药 (yào, “medicine”)

药 (yào), an HSK 2 character, means “medicine”, “drug” and “substance”. The traditional form is 藥, 19 strokes instead of 9. On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 药店 (“pharmacy”), 中药 (“traditional Chinese medicine”) and 药物 (“medicaments”). Japanese keeps the traditional 藥, read yaku (“medicine”).

Pinyin
yào
Strokes
9
HSK
2
Radical
艹 (“grass”)
Traditional
藥

Stroke by stroke

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9

As a top-bottom character it splits into 艹 (“grass”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 约 (“to make an appointment”), strokes 4–9, written the top first.

  1. top leftrightwards
  2. top leftdownwards
  3. topdown and right → downwards
  4. top leftdown and left → rightwards
  5. centerdown and left → rightwards
  6. bottom leftrightwards
  7. topdown and right → down and left
  8. centerrightwards → downwards → up and left
  9. centerdown and right

Names of the strokes

Traditional form

Simplified
药 · 9 strokes
Traditional
藥 · 19 strokes · see its strokes

Simplified vs traditional

Trace it

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Pinyin and meaning

PinyinMeaningsTraditionalIn words
yào
fourth tone		medicine; drug; substance used for a specific purpose (e.g. poisoning, explosion, fermenting); to poison; leaf of the iris藥药店 中药 药物 药品
HSK 2025 syllabus
level 2
2021 standard
level 2
HSK 2.0
in a level 2 word
Words with it
183 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 药

WordPinyinMeaning
药 藥yàomedicine; drug HSK 2
药店 藥店yàodiànpharmacy; drugstore HSK 2
中药 中藥zhōngyàotraditional Chinese medicine HSK 5
药物 藥物yàowùmedicaments; pharmaceuticals HSK 5
药品 藥品yàopǐnmedicaments; medicine HSK 5
医药 醫藥yīyàomedical care and medicines; medicine (drug) HSK 6
草药 草藥cǎoyàoherbal medicine HSK 7-9
药方 藥方yàofāngprescription HSK 7-9
药材 藥材yàocáimedicinal ingredient HSK 7-9
炸药 炸藥zhàyàoexplosive; blasting agent HSK 7-9

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

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HSK 2, in list order: