How to Write 犬 (quǎn) — Meaning “dog (formal)”

Imagine a dog with a big dot on its head — the top stroke is the nose, the middle cross is the ears, and the final "丶" (dot) is the tail wagging. You can also think of the character as a stick figure dog with a curly tail. This visual trick helps link the shape to the meaning.

Start with the top left stroke (a short horizontal line), then the second stroke (a longer horizontal crossing it), followed by the left diagonal stroke, and finally the dot on the right. Common mistakes include making the dot too large or placing it too low; the dot should sit near the upper right area. Keep the overall shape compact and balanced.

犬 is a full character meaning "dog," while 犭 is a radical (dog radical) used only in compound characters like 狗 (gǒu). 犮 (bá) looks similar but has an extra stroke — it means "to pull up" and is rare. Visually, 犬 has a dot at the end, 犭 lacks the dot (it ends with a hook), and 犮 has an extra horizontal stroke below.

犬 is a formal term for "dog," often found in compound words like 警犬 (police dog) and 导盲犬 (guide dog). It is less common in everyday speech, where 狗 (gǒu) is used instead. Culturally, 犬 appears in idioms like 犬马之劳 (to serve like a dog or horse), showing loyalty.

Common words containing 犬 include: 警犬 (jǐng quǎn) — police dog; 导盲犬 (dǎo máng quǎn) — Guide dog.; 犬类 (quǎn lèi) — canine; dog species.