常

Tap the pinyin to hear it

always; ever; often; frequently; common; general; constant

Make a writing worksheet

HSK 3.0: Level 1
Old HSK: Level 2
Strokes: 11
Radical: 巾 +8
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 常
Common rank: #461
Unicode: U+5E38

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 常 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

巾 meaning “cloth” + 尚 sound ( shàng )

Components 尚巾

How to remember it

often · Heisig RSH #705

outhouse + 巾 towel

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 常

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
非常	fēi cháng	very; really; unusual; extraordinary
常常	cháng cháng	frequently; often
常山县	Cháng shān Xiàn	Changshan, a county in Quzhou City 衢州市[Qu2 zhou1 Shi4], Zhejiang
黑白无常	Hēi Bái Wú cháng	(Chinese folk religion) Heibai Wuchang: two deities, one dressed in black and the other in…
人之常情	rén zhī cháng qíng	human nature (idiom); a behavior that is only natural
拉家常	lā jiā cháng	to talk or chat about ordinary daily life
不平常	bù píng cháng	remarkable; remarkably; unusual
平常心	píng cháng xīn	levelheadedness; calmness; equanimity
常德市	Cháng dé Shì	Changde, prefecture-level city in Hunan Province 湖南省[Hu2 nan2 Sheng3]
变化无常	biàn huà wú cháng	(idiom) changeable; fickle
日常工作	rì cháng gōng zuò	routine
全国人大常委会	Quán guó Rén Dà Cháng wěi huì	Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (abbr. for 全國人民代表大會常務委員會\|全国人民代表大会常务委员…
全国人民代表大会常务委员会	Quán guó Rén mín Dài biǎo Dà huì Cháng wù Wěi yuán huì	Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
千里马常有，而伯乐不常有	qiān lǐ mǎ cháng yǒu , ér Bó lè bù cháng yǒu	(lit.) there are many swift horses, but very few who can spot them (proverb); (fig.) many …
常州市	Cháng zhōu Shì	Changzhou, prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province 江蘇省\|江苏省[Jiang1 su1 Sheng3]
平常日	píng cháng rì	weekday
正常工作	zhèng cháng gōng zuò	normal operation; proper functioning
不正常	bù zhèng cháng	abnormal
正常成本	zhèng cháng chéng běn	normal cost (accountancy)
正常化	zhèng cháng huà	normalization (of diplomatic relations etc)

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 尚 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
尚 sound part	shàng	still, yet; even; fairly, rather
党	dǎng	political party, gang, faction
堂	táng	hall, large room; government office; cousins
掌	zhǎng	in charge; the palm of the hand, the sole of the foot
赏	shǎng	reward; to appreciate; to bestow, to grant
尝	cháng	to taste; to experience, to experiment with
躺	tǎng	to recline, to lie down
敞	chǎng	wide, open, spacious
棠	táng	crabapple tree; wild plum
趟	tàng	time, occasion; to make a journey
倘	tǎng	if, supposing, in event of
淌	tǎng	to trickle down, to flow, to drip; to shed tears
裳	cháng	skirt, petticoat; beautiful
惝	chǎng	alarmed, agitated
徜	cháng	to linger, to walk back and forth
绱	shàng	the sole of a shoe; to patch, to sole
䠀	chǎng	to meditate; to sit cross-legged
牚	chēng	variant of 撐\|撑[cheng1]