喂 meaning and stroke order
Hey; to feed (an animal, baby, invalid etc)
How to write 喂, stroke by stroke
12 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 喂
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- hey
- to feed (an animal, baby, invalid etc)
- to feed
- variant of 餵|喂[wei4]
- hello (when answering the phone)
How 喂 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 畏 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 喂
喂 is 口 (mouth) plus 畏 (wèi), which gives the sound. Think of a mouth calling out "wèi" to get attention, or a mouth being fed.
喂 has two main jobs: calling someone or answering the phone, and feeding a baby or animal. On the phone people usually say it as wéi, while "hey" and "to feed" are wèi. Example: 喂，你在哪儿？ (Wéi, nǐ zài nǎr?) Hello, where are you?
Common mistake: Learners often write 畏 on the right as 胃 (wèi, stomach), since both sound the same and the feeding sense seems to fit. Also, a sharp fourth-tone wèi when calling a stranger can sound rude, so use it carefully.
Common words with 喂
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
喂 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 喂
How many strokes are in 喂?
喂 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 喂 mean?
喂 (wèi) means hey; to feed (an animal, baby, invalid etc). A common word with it is 喂养 (wèiyǎng), meaning "to feed (a child, domestic animal etc); to keep".
How do you pronounce 喂?
喂 is pronounced wèi, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 喂?
The radical of 喂 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 喂 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 喂?
The traditional form of 喂 is 餧 and 餵. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 喂 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 喂 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 喂 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 喂 sound like wéi when people answer the phone?
The dictionary lists wéi as the reading for "hello" on the phone. A rising tone sounds softer and more like a question. Using wèi there is understood but can sound abrupt.
How do I say "feed the cat" with 喂?
Put the animal right after 喂: 喂猫 (wèi māo) means to feed the cat. For more formal or longer-term raising, use 喂养 (wèiyǎng), and for breast-feeding use 喂奶 (wèinǎi).