所
suǒ
- Pinyin
- suǒ
- Pinyin (Plain)
- suo
- Tone
- 3
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 戶
- Readings
- suǒsuoTone: 3actually; place; classifier for houses, small buildings, institutions etc; that which; particle introducing a relative clause or passive; CL:個|个[ge4]Order: 0Primary
- Stroke Order Code
- Speed
- Stroke Order Data
- ["M 268 652 Q 442 724 444 725 Q 468 731 461 752 Q 451 771 427 793 Q 405 812 392 812 Q 379 813 380 798 Q 377 768 301 710 Q 277 694 254 675 C 231 656 240 641 268 652 Z", "M 257 533 Q 257 539 258 544 Q 261 619 265 639 Q 268 646 268 652 C 271 665 271 665 254 675 Q 203 708 184 698 Q 172 691 180 677 Q 201 653 201 585 Q 201 398 174 294 Q 144 189 81 79 Q 77 72 75 66 Q 74 56 83 58 Q 99 61 131 109 Q 195 188 233 339 L 239 369 Q 248 397 256 506 L 257 533 Z", "M 424 399 Q 443 489 469 516 Q 491 541 467 555 Q 406 588 398 586 Q 391 586 384 581 Q 344 553 257 533 C 228 526 226 506 256 506 Q 271 505 292 511 Q 331 523 365 531 Q 387 537 393 527 Q 399 521 376 407 C 370 378 418 370 424 399 Z", "M 233 339 Q 246 336 264 338 Q 316 354 434 369 Q 444 370 445 380 Q 445 387 424 399 C 401 413 401 413 376 407 Q 370 406 366 404 Q 296 382 239 369 C 210 362 203 344 233 339 Z", "M 596 672 Q 615 679 644 688 Q 698 706 738 726 Q 784 747 823 756 Q 841 757 844 766 Q 848 776 835 788 Q 813 804 766 819 Q 750 826 736 824 Q 729 820 729 809 Q 729 775 583 693 C 557 678 568 662 596 672 Z", "M 585 534 Q 586 603 595 665 Q 596 669 596 672 C 598 686 598 686 583 693 Q 582 694 579 695 Q 530 719 514 716 Q 495 712 511 690 Q 542 639 525 431 Q 516 371 487 299 Q 457 224 375 148 Q 362 135 358 128 Q 357 121 368 122 Q 407 122 477 198 Q 561 294 583 505 L 585 534 Z", "M 755 522 Q 819 534 926 534 Q 945 535 949 543 Q 953 555 937 567 Q 883 603 826 584 Q 721 562 585 534 C 556 528 555 515 583 505 Q 607 493 653 505 Q 669 511 693 513 L 755 522 Z", "M 714 -31 Q 720 -56 726 -65 Q 732 -72 739 -70 Q 757 -58 760 -3 Q 767 66 767 133 Q 764 191 770 413 Q 770 453 780 487 Q 783 505 769 514 Q 762 520 755 522 C 729 537 679 540 693 513 Q 711 482 714 449 Q 715 325 711 131 Q 710 10 714 -31 Z"]
- Meaning
- “所” is a common character that often marks the place or thing affected by an action, similar to turning “to do” into “what is done” (e.g., 所说 = “what is said,” 所在 = “place where [something] is”). It also appears in set patterns like “有所…” (“to have some…”) and in nouns for places or institutions (e.g., 诊所 “clinic,” 住所 “residence”).
- Metadata
- Locale: enCached At: 3/23/2026, 11:50:20 PM
Usage
The character 所 is very common and often works more like a grammatical tool than a concrete “thing.” One key use is in the pattern 所 + verb, which turns an action into a kind of noun phrase, often translated with “what is/was …-ed” or “the things that ….” For example, 我所知道的 (“what I know / the things that I know”) or 他所说的话 (“what he said”). Learners first meet it in this type of relative clause or formal phrase, especially in written Chinese, news, and official documents. It gives sentences a more formal, structured feel than just using 的 after a verb. 所 also appears in a few very common words and set phrases. As a noun, it can mean “place,” especially in measure word-like usage: 一所学校 (“a school”), 一所医院 (“a hospital”), where 所 is a classifier for certain buildings or institutions. It also appears in words like 所以 (“so, therefore”), 所谓 (“so‑called”), and sometimes as part of place names or institutional names (e.g., 研究所 “research institute”). In modern everyday speech, learners will most often notice 所 inside these fixed words and the grammarlike pattern 所+verb in more formal or written contexts.
Handwriting Notes
所 in handwriting has a fairly compact, slightly rectangular shape, with the “door” component 戶/户 on the left and a smaller component 斤 on the right. In casual writing, people often simplify the left side: the top horizontal and the vertical may be written in one flowing motion, and the hook at the bottom can be small or barely hinted. The right side’s diagonal and horizontal strokes can become more slanted or merged, and angles may round off so that the character looks less boxy and more fluid. Some writers connect strokes that are separate in print, while others write it in a more angular, printed style, so you’ll see differences in how open or closed the left side looks and how sharp the right-side angles are. Despite these variations, the key cues are the left “enclosure-like” structure plus the right 斤 shape, with a visible diagonal element on the right. Modern AI handwriting recognition systems are trained on many such handwritten variants, so they can usually recognize 所 reliably even when it is cursive, slightly distorted, or written with joined strokes.
Description
所 is a common character meaning “place” or “location,” and it also appears as a grammatical marker before verbs to form phrases like 所说 (“what is said”) or 所做 (“what is done”). It is used in many words such as 場所/场所 (“place, site”) and 所有 (“all; to possess”).
Common Words
- 所suo3actually
- 所有suo3 you3all
- 所多Suo3 duo1Soto
- 何所he2 suo3where
- 所在suo3 zai4place
Example Sentences
我喜欢所。
wo3 xi3 huan5 suo3
I like actually.
所有很常见。
suo3 you3 hen3 chang2 jian4
所有 is very common.
我们在学习所多。
wo3 men5 zai4 xue2 xi2 Suo3 duo1
We are learning Soto.
这个何所很重要。
zhe4 ge5 he2 suo3 hen3 zhong4 yao4
This where is important.
请写一下“所”。
qing3 xie3 yi1 xia4 suo3
Please write '所'.