吾 meaning and stroke order
I, my, our; to resist, to impede
How to write 吾, stroke by stroke
7 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
- 6
- 7
Meaning of 吾
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (old) I; my
How 吾 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 五 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 吾
吾 is 五 (wǔ, five) on top of 口 (kǒu, mouth). The mouth shows this is about speaking of yourself, and 五 gives the sound, so picture a mouth saying "wǔ... wú, I."
吾 is a classical or literary word for "I" or "my." Today you mostly see it in set phrases, quotes, and formal or playful writing, not in everyday speech, where 我 (wǒ) is used. Example: 吾家有女初长成 (wú jiā yǒu nǚ chū zhǎng chéng), "In my family a daughter has just grown up."
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 吾 with the third tone like its sound part 五 (wǔ), but 吾 is second tone, wú. Do not confuse it with 语 (yǔ, language), which has the speech radical 讠 on the left of 吾.
吾 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 吾
Learning 吾 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 吾
How many strokes are in 吾?
吾 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 吾 mean?
吾 (wú) means I, my, our; to resist, to impede.
How do you pronounce 吾?
吾 is pronounced wú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 吾?
The radical of 吾 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 吾 under this radical.
Can I use 吾 instead of 我 in conversation?
Not normally. In modern speech 吾 sounds old-fashioned or bookish, so people use it only for humor, in poetry, or when quoting classical texts.
What are some common words or phrases with 吾?
You will see 吾辈 (wúbèi, we, people like us) and the classical line 吾日三省吾身 (wú rì sān xǐng wú shēn, "I examine myself three times a day") from the Analects. It also appears in 支支吾吾 (zhīzhī wúwú), meaning to hem and haw.