How to Write 室 (shì) — Meaning “Room.”

Imagine a roof (宀) covering a house, and inside there is a person arriving (至) to rest in their room. The bottom part 至 looks like an arrow pointing to a target, reminding you that this is the room you are aiming to reach.

When writing 室, pay attention to the proportions: the top radical 宀 should be wide enough to cover the bottom part 至, but not too tall. A common mistake is writing the bottom part 至 with a horizontal line that is too long, making the character look unbalanced—keep the final horizontal stroke shorter than the roof.

室 has 宀 (roof) on top and 至 (arrive) below, meaning 'room'. 宋 (sòng) has 宀 on top and 木 (wood) below, referring to a dynasty or surname. 完 (wán) has 宀 on top and 元 (yuan, first) below, meaning 'complete'. Notice the different bottom components: 至 vs. 木 vs. 元.

室 is very common in everyday words like 教室 (classroom), 办公室 (office), and 卧室 (bedroom). In Chinese culture, the character often appears in compound words for functional rooms, and it is also used in formal terms like 会议室 (meeting room) or 实验室 (laboratory).

Common words containing 室 include: 教室 (jiào shì) — classroom; 办公室 (bàn gōng shì) — office; 卧室 (wò shì) — bedroom.