How to Write 甲 (jiǎ) — Meaning “first / shell / armor”

Imagine a turtle with a large shell shaped like the character 田, and the extra vertical stroke is the turtle's head sticking out from the top. This helps you remember both the 'shell' meaning and the unique stroke through the field component.

Write 甲 with five strokes: first the horizontal line on top, then the left vertical, then the horizontal bottom, then the middle vertical going through, and finally the horizontal in the middle. A common mistake is writing the vertical stroke too short or starting it too low; it should extend from top to bottom, crossing the field shape evenly.

The character 田 (field) is a simple square with an inner cross, while 甲 has a vertical line that extends above and below the square. 由 (from/reason) also has a vertical line, but it sticks out only from the top, not from the bottom. So remember: 甲's line goes through both ends, like a shield covering top and bottom.

Today, 甲 is commonly seen in contracts as 甲方 (Party A), the first party. It also appears in 指甲 (fingernail) and 甲板 (ship deck). Culturally, it is the first of the Heavenly Stems, used in traditional Chinese astrology and numbering, similar to 'A' in Western alphabetic ordering.

Common words containing 甲 include: 指甲 (zhǐ jiǎ) — fingernail; 甲方 (jiǎ fāng) — Party A (in a contract); 甲板 (jiǎ bǎn) — deck (of a ship).