災
Character learning workspace

zāi · disaster, catastrophe, calamity

Master the form, understand its parts, and learn how it behaves in real Chinese.

Watch · inspect · write

Learn every stroke in 災

Replay the complete order, pause on difficult movements, inspect one stroke at a time, then write it yourself with live correction.

Interactive stroke trainerWatch and inspect
Checking daily allowance…Please waitGo unlimited
Loading strokes…
0 strokes
Choose Watch order or Practice writing
Stroke graphics: Make Me a Hanzi / Arphic Public License
Step-by-step explorer

See how 災 is constructed

Switch between the accumulated form and the isolated movement of each stroke.

Loading stroke diagrams…

Character anatomy

Understand the reusable parts

The decomposition shows how the visual pieces fit together, not necessarily the character’s historical origin.

Writing notes

Shape and proportion

7Total strokes

Count each continuous pen movement once, including turns and hooks.

Top-bottomCharacter structure

Keep the upper section balanced above the lower section.

火Key radical

Use the highlighted radical in the animation as a visual anchor for remembering the form.

Print and practise

Download a 災 writing sheet

Get a ready-to-use A4 sheet immediately, or open the full builder to change its grid and guidance.

Preparing worksheet…
Customize

Includes the stroke sequence, progressive tracing, and blank writing squares. Generated locally in your browser.

Vocabulary in context

Common words with 災

Open a word for its full breakdown, or listen before reading the meaning.

No common curriculum words are indexed for this character yet.

Read and listen

Example sentences

Notice where 災 sits in each complete thought.

Nà tiān wǎn shàng fā shēng le huǒ zāi.那天晚上發生了火災。

A fire broke out during that night.

Source: Tatoeba #363264 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Zuó wǎn fā shēng le yì chǎng hěn dà de huǒ zāi.昨晚發生了一場很大的火災。

There was a big fire last night.

Source: Tatoeba #895577 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Nán xī gào sù le wǒ yǒu guān huǒ zāi de shì.南希告訴了我有關火災的事。

Nancy told me about the fire.

Source: Tatoeba #859265 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Nǐ tīng shuō le zuó tiān de huǒ zāi má ?你聽說了昨天的火災嗎?

Did you hear about the fire yesterday?

Source: Tatoeba #775736 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Huǒ zāi de yuán yīn bù míng.火災的原因不明。

The cause of the fire was unknown.

Source: Tatoeba #757729 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Jiù suàn wǒ de jiā fā shēng huǒ zāi, yě huì hěn kuài jiù bèi pū xī de.就算我的家發生火災,也會很快就被撲熄的。

Even if my house catches fire it would soon be put out.

Source: Tatoeba #505636 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Turn reference into recall

How to study 災 in context

  1. Say zāi, then recall the core meaning: disaster, catastrophe, calamity.
  2. Write all 7 strokes while keeping the top-bottom balanced.
  3. Read the complete sentence aloud once, then cover the translation and explain how 災 works in that context.

Definitions and traditional forms are compiled from Make Me a Hanzi, HSK curriculum data, and CC-CEDICT. Sourced example sentences link to Tatoeba; editorial examples are labeled separately. Review data sources and licenses.