Radicals Matching - Beginner

Radicals with Cantonese pronunciation, beginner level

Cantonese and Mandarin share the written language but not the spoken one, so a radical you know by its Mandarin reading needs relearning by ear in Cantonese. This beginner quiz pairs common radical families with Cantonese audio and Jyutping, letting you build character knowledge and Cantonese pronunciation at once.

How to play

1. Listen to the Cantonese pronunciation and read the clue.
2. Pick the character that fits the radical family described.
3. The correct answer and its Jyutping are shown straight away.
4. Questions rotate across beginner sets for repeat play.

What you’ll practise

• The most frequent radicals, heard in Cantonese rather than Mandarin.
• Reading Jyutping alongside characters you are already learning to recognise.
• Tone numbers attached to single-syllable readings.
• Decomposing characters as a reading strategy, not a memory trick.

If you are learning Cantonese in Hong Kong, learning characters through Cantonese readings from the start avoids a common detour — picking up characters via Mandarin pinyin and then having to relearn every pronunciation. It is slower to find good materials, but considerably more direct.

Keep going

• Cantonese radical matching — intermediate
• Cantonese Tone Quiz — the six tones
• Mandarin vs Cantonese: which comes first