示 (shì): to show; to reveal; to indicate

Meanings

1 to show; to reveal; to indicate

Characters

示

shì

to show; to reveal

Examples

HSK 3

请出示你的证件。

Qǐng chūshì nǐ de zhèngjiàn.

Please show your ID.

HSK 5

老师给我们做了示范。

Lǎoshī gěi wǒmen zuò le shìfàn.

The teacher gave us a demonstration.

Tips

usage

示 is a key radical (示字旁 / 礻) and component: 表示 (to express/indicate), 显示 (to display), 示范 (to demonstrate), 暗示 (to hint), 提示 (to prompt/remind).

Components

pictograph

示 shì

altar; to show

Pictograph of a stone sacrificial altar - the top horizontal lines depict the flat upper stones, and the three downward strokes depict the legs of the pedestal where gods were addressed. From this 'altar where the divine is revealed' came the verb sense 'to show.' Kangxi radical #113, parent of the spirit family - 神 god, 祖 ancestor, 祭 sacrifice, 礼 ritual.

Radical

Altar; Spirit Kangxi #113

Highly productive — marks characters about ritual, ancestral spirits, blessings, and omens. The full form 示 sits at the bottom (祭 sacrifice, 票 ticket, originally a fluttering omen). The slim left-side variant 礻 (示字旁) drives the everyday compounds: 神, 礼, 福, 祝, 祖, 社, 祸. Strong meaning clue.