How to Write 奖 (jiǎng) — Meaning “prize; award; reward”

Imagine a big (大) trophy with a star (夕) sitting on a wooden platform (丬). The platform holds the prize, and the star makes it shine as an award. This picture helps you recall that 奖 means 'prize' or 'award'.

Write the top radical 大 first, making it slightly wide and balanced. Then add the left component 丬 (dot, left-falling, vertical stroke) and finally the right component 夕 (left-falling, horizontal bend, dot). A common mistake is making the bottom part too narrow or mixing up the stroke order of 丬 and 夕.

奖 has 夕 (evening) on the bottom-right, while 奁 has a closed shape resembling a box (used for makeup cases) and 奂 has a different lower component meaning 'great'. In usage, 奖 is very common for awards and rewards, but 奁 is rare and ancient, and 奂 appears only in literary words like 奂美 (magnificent).

奖 appears in everyday words like 奖学金 (scholarship), 奖励 (reward), and 奖金 (bonus). It is also used as a verb meaning 'to award' or 'to praise', for example in competitions or work settings. In China, receiving a 奖 is a significant honor, especially academic scholarships which are highly valued by students and families.

Common words containing 奖 include: 奖学金 (jiǎng xué jīn) — scholarship; 奖励 (jiǎng lì) — to reward; incentive; 奖金 (jiǎng jīn) — bonus; prize money.