Similar-Looking Chinese Characters: How to Tell Them Apart

Each of the common look-alike sets comes down to one feature you can check in a second. Learn that feature for each set, and learn each character inside a word, and the mix-ups mostly stop. This guide gives the feature, the reading and a word for each of the common Traditional sets, then explains why your flashcards keep mixing them up and what to change.

Readings below follow the Ministry of Education dictionary, which is the Taiwan standard.

The sets at a glance

Set	Character	Reading	Meaning	The feature to check
己 已 巳	己	jǐ (ㄐㄧˇ)	self, as in 自己 (zìjǐ)	upper left open: the last stroke starts at the middle line
	已	yǐ (ㄧˇ)	already, as in 已經 (yǐjīng)	upper left half closed: the last stroke starts about halfway up
	巳	sì (ㄙˋ)	sixth of the twelve earthly branches, as in 巳時 (sìshí)	upper left closed: the last stroke reaches the top
未 末	未	wèi (ㄨㄟˋ)	not yet, as in 未來 (wèilái)	the upper stroke is shorter than the lower
	末	mò (ㄇㄛˋ)	end, as in 週末 (zhōumò)	the upper stroke is longer than the lower
日 曰	日	rì (ㄖˋ)	sun, day, as in 日記 (rìjì)	taller than it is wide
	曰	yuē (ㄩㄝ)	to say, in classical writing	wider than it is tall
人 入	人	rén (ㄖㄣˊ)	person, as in 人口 (rénkǒu)	the left-falling stroke is the long one
	入	rù (ㄖㄨˋ)	to enter, as in 入口 (rùkǒu)	the left stroke is short; the right-falling stroke is long
買 賣	買	mǎi (ㄇㄞˇ)	to buy	a net 罒 over 貝, nothing on top
	賣	mài (ㄇㄞˋ)	to sell	the same, with 士 added on top
籃 藍	籃	lán (ㄌㄢˊ)	basket, as in 籃球 (lánqiú)	bamboo 竹 on top
	藍	lán (ㄌㄢˊ)	blue, as in 藍色 (lánsè)	grass 艹 on top
土 士	土	tǔ (ㄊㄨˇ)	earth, as in 土地 (tǔdì)	the lower stroke is longer
	士	shì (ㄕˋ)	scholar, soldier, as in 士兵 (shìbīng)	the upper stroke is longer

The rest of the article takes the sets one at a time.

己 已 巳: how far the last stroke goes

All three have three strokes and sit on the same radical, 己. They differ only in where the vertical part of the last stroke starts. A simple memory aid: 己 is open, 已 is half open, 巳 is closed. Look at the upper left, where the vertical part of the last stroke starts.

The meanings do not overlap, which helps. 己 (jǐ) turns up in 自己 (zìjǐ, oneself). 已 (yǐ) turns up in 已經 (yǐjīng, already). 巳 (sì) is rare outside the list of earthly branches and the hour name 巳時. If a sentence needs “already”, it is 已 every time.

未 and 末: which stroke is longer

Both look like 木 with a stroke on top. In 未 (wèi, not yet), the upper horizontal is shorter than the one below. In 末 (mò, end), the upper horizontal is longer. The word 週末 (zhōumò, weekend) is the one to anchor 末 to, and 未來 (wèilái, future) anchors 未.

日 and 曰: the shape of the box

日 (rì, sun or day) is a narrow box, taller than wide, with a stroke across the middle. 曰 (yuē, to say) is a wide box, wider than tall. You will meet 日 constantly. 曰 is a classical word, and the MOE dictionary marks it as used in literary Chinese. In everyday Taiwanese writing you may see it in quotations from classical texts and not in modern sentences.

人 and 入: which stroke is long

人 (rén, person) has a long left-falling stroke, and the right-falling stroke leans against it. 入 (rù, to enter) is the reverse: the left stroke is short, and the right-falling stroke is the long one. Compare the words: 人口 (rénkǒu, population) and 入口 (rùkǒu, entrance) differ only in this stroke, and they sound different too. 進入 (jìnrù, to enter) is a useful anchor for 入.

買 and 賣: one extra part

買 (mǎi, to buy) and 賣 (mài, to sell) have the same pronunciation except for the tone: third tone for buying, fourth tone for selling. The written difference is that 賣 has 士 on top of the same lower part. In the MOE dictionary 買 has 12 strokes and 賣 has 15. The word 買賣 (mǎimài) means buying and selling, or business.

籃 and 藍: the part on top

籃 (lán, basket) and 藍 (lán, blue) are read identically. The top radical tells them apart: 竹 (bamboo) for a basket, since baskets were woven from bamboo, and 艹 (grass) for the blue of 藍色 (lánsè, the colour blue). Examples: 籃球 (lánqiú, basketball), 籃子 (lánzi, basket), 藍天 (lántiān, blue sky). Because the sounds match, only the radical keeps them apart, so learn each with its word.

土 and 士: which stroke is longer

In 土 (tǔ, earth) the bottom stroke is the long one, like ground. In 士 (shì, scholar or soldier) the top stroke is the long one. It is a quick check, and the readings are different, so any word will correct you: 土地 (tǔdì, land) and 士兵 (shìbīng, soldier).

Why look-alikes get mixed up on flashcards

When two characters share most of their shape, the card for one tends to bring the other to mind. You see 已, remember 己, and answer “self” when the card wants “already”. This is usually called interference.

What helps in practice:

1. Learn one at a time. Study 己 until it is solid before adding 已 a week or two later. Two new look-alikes on the same day is the hardest case.
2. Learn each inside its word. 自己, 已經, 週末, 未來. The word gives the reading and the meaning something to hold on to.
3. Add one contrast card. Put the pair on one card with the feature that separates them, such as “己 open, 已 half, 巳 closed”. Do it once the two are individually learned.
4. Look for the part, and not the whole shape. Ask yourself “which stroke is longer” or “which radical is on top” and not “what does it look like”.
5. Write them. Writing the pair from memory, with the stroke that distinguishes them, fixes the difference far better than looking at it. The stroke order rules help you write each stroke deliberately.
6. Watch the repeated failures. If a card keeps failing in Anki, tag it and look at which character it is being confused with, then write a contrast card for that pair. The wider causes of forgetting are in why forgetting is normal.

Checking a character you are unsure of

If you are unsure which character you have seen, look it up. Search by character or by Pinyin in the dictionary search. Rare characters such as 巳 and 曰 are better checked in the Ministry of Education dictionary (moedict.tw).

Look-alikes are a normal stage. Fix the feature in your head, anchor each character to a word, and the pair stops being a problem.

Related reading

• How to Memorize Chinese Characters (and Keep Them) — parts, writing and review as one method.
• Forgetting Chinese Words You Learned? That’s Normal — the wider story on forgetting.
• Chinese Stroke Order Rules (筆順) — the order that keeps strokes distinct.
• Dictionary search — look up any character.