How to Write 排 (pái) — Meaning “row or to arrange”

Imagine your hand (扌) is helping you line up a row of people, and each person says 'no' (非) to cutting in line. This visual of a hand managing a queue of people saying 'not allowed' can help you recall both the meaning 'to line up' and the character's shape.

Write the left radical 扌 with a vertical stroke that is straight, then the right side 非 has two vertical lines that should be parallel and evenly spaced. A common mistake is making the left side too wide or forgetting that 非 has three horizontal strokes on each side—count them carefully.

排 (pái) focuses on 'line up or arrange' and uses the hand radical 扌 with 非, while 拜 (bài) means 'to bow' and has a different right side (like two hands together). 括 (kuò) means 'to include' and uses a different right part 舌 (tongue). Visually, 排's right half looks like two rows of lines, unlike the other two.

排 is very common in daily life, especially in 排队 (pái duì, to line up), which is a polite social norm in China. You also see it in 安排 (ān pái, to arrange) for planning events, and 排除 (pái chú, to eliminate) in problem-solving. Culturally, orderly queuing is expected in public places like train stations or stores.

Common words containing 排 include: 排队 (pái duì) — to line up or queue; 安排 (ān pái) — To arrange / Arrangement; 排除 (pái chú) — to eliminate or rule out.