句 meaning and stroke order
Sentence; clause; phrase
How to write 句, stroke by stroke
5 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Meaning of 句
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- sentence
- clause
- phrase
- classifier for phrases or lines of verse
- variant of 勾[gou1]
How 句 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A phrase 勹 from the mouth 口.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 句
Picture 勹 as an arm wrapping around a mouth 口. The words that come out of that mouth are wrapped up into one neat unit, a sentence 句 (jù).
句 appears in words like 句子 (jùzi, sentence) and 句号 (jùhào, period), and it also works as a measure word for things people say or lines of poetry. Example: 我想说一句话。 (Wǒ xiǎng shuō yí jù huà.) I want to say something.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 句 with 包 (bāo) or 勺 (sháo), which share the same 勹 wrapper but have different parts inside. Remember that 句 has a mouth 口 inside because it is about speech.
Common words with 句
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
句 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 句
Learning 句 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 句
How many strokes are in 句?
句 is written with 5 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 句 mean?
句 (jù) means sentence; clause; phrase. A common word with it is 句子 (jùzi), meaning "sentence".
How do you pronounce 句?
句 has more than one reading: jù and gōu. The most common is jù, said in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 句?
The radical of 句 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 句 under this radical.
Is 句 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 句 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
How do I use 句 as a measure word?
Put a number before it and the spoken item after it, as in 三句话 (sān jù huà, three sentences) or 一句诗 (yí jù shī, a line of poetry). It counts sentences, remarks and lines of verse, not written paragraphs or whole texts.
When is 句 read gōu?
The gōu reading is an old variant of 勾 (gōu, to hook or tick). You will rarely see it in modern Chinese, so in everyday reading you can treat 句 as jù.