火

Tap the pinyin to hear it

fire; urgent; ammunition; fiery or flaming; internal heat (Chinese medicine); hot (popular); classifier for military units (old); Kangxi radical 86

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Pictograph (象形字)

Flames

Components 丷人

fire · Heisig RSH #170

— as a component also called: flames, fireplace, cooking fire

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
火车	huǒ chē	train; CL:列[lie4],節\|节[jie2],班[ban1],趟[tang4]
火山学	huǒ shān xué	volcanology
大火	dà huǒ	conflagration; large fire; CL:場\|场[chang2]
火大	huǒ dà	to get mad; to be very angry
山火	shān huǒ	wildfire; forest fire
火山	huǒ shān	volcano
火山口	huǒ shān kǒu	volcanic crater
生火	shēng huǒ	to make a fire; to light a fire
火车头	huǒ chē tóu	train engine; locomotive
电火花	diàn huǒ huā	electric spark
火力发电	huǒ lì fā diàn	thermal power generation
火儿	huǒ r	fire; fury; angry
火海	huǒ hǎi	a sea of flames
火机	huǒ jī	see 打火機\|打火机[da3 huo3 ji1]
水火无情	shuǐ huǒ wú qíng	fire and flood have no mercy (idiom)
打火机	dǎ huǒ jī	lighter; cigarette lighter
火化	huǒ huà	to cremate; to incinerate
火花	huǒ huā	spark; sparkle
花火	huā huǒ	firework
上火	shàng huǒ	to get angry; to suffer from excessive internal heat (TCM)

These characters use 火 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
火 sound part	huǒ	fire, flame; to burn; anger, rage
伙	huǒ	companion, colleague; utensils
狄	dí	barbarians; a tribe from northern China; surname
钬	huǒ	holmium