How to Write 乞 (qǐ) — Meaning “to beg”

Imagine a person who is very hungry and bends over (the left-falling stroke) while holding out a hook-shaped hand (the radical 乙) to ask for food. This visual of a curved hand reaching out helps you remember that 乞 means 'to beg'.

Write the top left-falling stroke first, then the short horizontal line, and finally the long hook stroke (乙) that curves down and then up. A common mistake is making the hook too straight or forgetting the top left-falling stroke, which would make it look like the separate character 乙.

乞 has three strokes (丿一乙) and means 'to beg', while 乙 is a single hook stroke used as a heavenly stem or 'second'. 㐌 is a very rare ancient character (pronounced yí) that looks like 乞 but has an extra stroke at the bottom; it is not used in modern Chinese.

乞 appears in common words like 乞丐 (beggar), 乞求 (to beg for), and 乞讨 (to beg for money or food). It is mostly used in formal or written contexts, as the act of begging is a sensitive topic in daily conversation; you would not say it directly to a person.

Common words containing 乞 include: 乞丐 (qǐ gài) — beggar; 乞求 (qǐ qiú) — to beg for; to entreat; 乞讨 (qǐ tǎo) — to beg (for food or money).