Pick a character. Watch it branch.
113 root characters · 373 HSK 3 words, grown sense by sense. Tap any character to open its word tree.
Why word trees?
Chinese vocabulary is not a list to memorise — it's a system to unlock. This tool is built on four ideas from our HSK 3 morpheme handbook:
Characters build words
以字构词 — Most Chinese words are 1–3 characters snapped together. Learn one character well and dozens of words come almost free.
Formation follows patterns
构词有格 — Words aren't glued randomly: modifier+noun, verb+verb, adverb+verb… Each lesson trains one pattern until you see it everywhere.
Senses grow families
义各成族 — Each sense of a character grows its own family of words. 边 as "side" gives 路边 roadside; 边 as "beside" gives 身边 at one's side.
Meanings are motivated
词义有理据 — 房 (building) + 子 (suffix) = 房子 "house". When you see why a word means what it means, you stop forgetting it.
See it once, own it forever
Now guess what 好看 (good + look) and 好听 (good + listen) mean. See? You're already doing it.
The tree is the point
A character's senses aren't a dictionary list — they're one thought, branching. Watch 开 grow two ways from a single image:
a door swings, a flower blooms
开始 begin · 开车 drive
opening = setting in motion
离开 leave · 打开 open up
what opens, separates
Those branches aren't grammar trivia — they're a window into how Chinese speakers see the world. Climb the tree, and every new word lands on a branch you already understand. That's what each character in Explore shows you.
Full 22-lesson course coming soon
Every character above, taught in depth — with exercises, audio and a guided path from HSK 3 to fluency.
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