How to Write 踩 (cǎi) — Meaning “to step on; to tread”

Picture your foot (足) stepping on a colorful patch of flowers (采) — the image of "stepping on something pretty" links the shape and meaning. The character literally shows a foot doing an action on top of 采, so you can remember it as "foot + step on".

Write the left radical 足 first (7 strokes, ending with a lift stroke 提), then the right part 采 (8 strokes: claw 爫 on top, then 木 with a dot). A common mistake is forgetting the dot inside 采 or making the 足 radical too wide — keep it narrow so the whole character stays balanced.

踩 (cǎi) means "to step on" and uses 采 on the right, while 跟 (gēn) means "to follow" and uses 艮 (gèn). Visually, 采 has a claw (爫) over 木, whereas 艮 looks like 日 over 匕. 䠀 (tāng, meaning "to wade") is very rare and uses 汤 as its phonetic; it is almost never confused with 踩 in daily use.

踩 is used in everyday situations like 踩到 (step on something) or 踩水 (tread water in swimming). In parks or museums, you often see signs reading 别踩 (bié cǎi, Don't step) to protect grass or exhibits. It is an HSK 6 character, so it appears in intermediate-to-advanced texts.

Common words containing 踩 include: 踩到 (cǎi dào) — to step on something; 踩水 (cǎi shuǐ) — to tread water; 别踩 (bié cǎi) — Don't step on it..