小 (xiǎo) Stroke Order, Decomposition & Printable Worksheet
小 (xiǎo · Hán Việt: Tiểu) — small; little; tiny; young. Oracle bone script used three tiny sand grains to signify smallness; evolved into a central vertical hook flanked by two small droplets. As a standalone character, 小 is also used as a friendly prefix before nouns and names, and in modern school vocabulary it appears in 小学 for elementary school, 小心 for careful, and 小时 for an hour, so learners meet it long before they meet its component form at the top of other characters.
- Pinyin
- xiǎo
- Sino-Vietnamese
- Tiểu
- Strokes
- 3
- Radical
- 小
- IDS Structure
- ⿻亅八
- Traditional
- 小
小 Stroke-by-Stroke Trajectory (3 Steps)
Customize 小 in Worksheet Generator →小1 折 Zhé
小1 (47,12)→(35,77)
小2 撇 Piě
小2 (27,41)→(17,61)
小3 捺 Nà
小3 (69,40)→(86,58)
Origin & Structural Decomposition (小 = ⿻亅八)
Oracle bone script used three tiny sand grains to signify smallness; evolved into a central vertical hook flanked by two small droplets. As a standalone character, 小 is also used as a friendly prefix before nouns and names, and in modern school vocabulary it appears in 小学 for elementary school, 小心 for careful, and 小时 for an hour, so learners meet it long before they meet its component form at the top of other characters.
⿻亅八 → 亅 + 八 (⿻)
Calligraphy Proportion & Grid Coaching for 小
Classic Rule 7 character (Center Before Sides): write the central Vertical-Hook (竖钩) dead on the center line FIRST, then the left falling dot (左点), and finally the right dot (右点).
Common Stroke Order Pitfall for 小
When 小 sits at the top of a character (as in 尖 sharp or 尘 dust), the central hook drops its barb and becomes a plain Vertical stroke.
Essential HSK Compound Words with 小
elementary school; primary school
careful; take care
hour
novel; fiction
young lady; miss
group
in one's childhood
dimension; magnitude
young man; young guy
child
Example Sentences Using 小 (xiǎo)
小学生刚开始练字时最适合用米字格。
Xiǎoxuéshēng gāng kāishǐ liànzì shí zuì shìhé yòng mǐzìgé.
Elementary school students are best suited to Mi Zi Ge grids when starting handwriting.
我每天晚上练习半个小时书法。
Wǒ měitiān wǎnshang liànxí bàn gè xiǎoshí shūfǎ.
I practice calligraphy for half an hour every evening.