How to Write 交 (jiāo) — Meaning “to hand over; to intersect; to make friends”

Imagine a person standing with legs crossed (the lower part looks like two crossed lines) and wearing a hat (the top radical 亠). This image of ‘crossing legs while wearing a hat’ can help you recall the meaning ‘to intersect’ or ‘to make friends’, since friends often cross paths.

Write the top dot first (radical 亠), then the horizontal line, followed by the left-falling stroke (撇) and right-falling stroke (捺), and finally the two crossing strokes in the center. A common mistake is making the bottom part too wide or unbalanced — keep the two diagonal strokes symmetrical and the central cross strokes centered.

交 (jiāo) has a clear cross shape inside with a top lid, while 㐬 (liú or yù) is a rare character that looks like a flowing stream. 㐭 (lǐn) is an ancient character meaning ‘granary’ and has a completely different bottom structure. In modern Chinese, only 交 is commonly used, so focus on its six-stroke crossing pattern.

交 is very common in everyday words like 交通 (traffic/transportation) and 交朋友 (to make friends). It also appears in formal contexts like 提交 (to submit a document). Culturally, the idea of ‘exchange’ and ‘intersection’ (交) is central to Chinese social harmony, as in the phrase 交友 (to make friends), which values mutual connection.

Common words containing 交 include: 交朋友 (jiāo péng yǒu) — to make friends; 交通 (jiāo tōng) — traffic; transportation; 提交 (tí jiāo) — To submit.