Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

angle; horn; horn-shaped; Chinese musical note; angle; horn

Chinese: 角、犄角;也指角度、角落。读 jiǎo。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “jiao” becomes a different word in each tone. 角 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 角度jiǎo dùangle; (fig.) point of view
  • 角色jué sèrole; part (in a play or movie etc)
  • 主角zhǔ juéleading role; lead; protagonist
  • 角落jiǎo luòcorner (of a room, courtyard etc); (fig.) remote spot; nook
  • 三角sān jiǎotriangle; (math.) trigonometry

Example Sentence

桌子的角有点儿尖。Zhuō zi de jiǎo yǒu diǎnr jiān.The corner of the table is a bit sharp.

桌子zhuō zitabledeofjiǎoangle有点儿yǒu diǎn rslightlyjiānpointed

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

A pictograph of an animal’s horn, showing its ridged surface. It means ‘horn’ and, by extension, ‘corner / angle’.

A way to remember it

A ridged horn tapering to a point.

Easy to confuse with

  • yòng‘Use’: the lower part of 角 looks like 用, but 角 adds the horn’s tip and ridges on top.