Chinese characters are formed in the following 7 different ways.

1. Single structured such as 雨 yŭ rain.
2. Left and right structured such as 好hăo good, which is formed by the radical女   nǚ woman and the character子 zĭ child.
3. Left, middle and right structured such as粥 zhōu porridge, which is formed by the character 米mĭ rice, placed between two characters of 弓gōng bow.
4. Top and base structured such as 华huá China, which is formed by the character 化huà to transform or convert and the radical 十shí ten.
5. Top, middle and base structured such as 鼻 bí nose, which is formed by 自zì oneself 田tián field and the radical 廾 which means to join hands.
6. Half enclosure structured such as 医 yī medicine, cure, which is formed by the radical匚 which means basket and the character 矢 shĭ arrow; 周 zhōu circle, which is formed by the radical冂which means boarders and the character 吉 jí  auspicious; 凶 xiōng inauspicious, which is formed by X and the radical凵 which means receptacle.
7. Enclosure structured such as 国 guó state, which is formed by the character 玉 yù jade and the radical 囗 which means enclosure.

Some characters have components which hint of the pronunciation of the characters. For instance, as it demonstrates above in 4: 华, one of the components of the character has a similar pronunciation as the character华.