嗽 meaning and stroke order
To gargle; to cough; to clear the throat
How to write 嗽, stroke by stroke
14 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 嗽
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) to cough
How 嗽 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 欶 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 嗽
嗽 (sòu) is the mouth 口 on the left plus 欶 on the right, which gives the sound. Picture a mouth working hard to push something out, and you have a cough.
嗽 is a bound form and almost always appears in the word 咳嗽 (késou), meaning to cough or a cough. In this word it is usually read in the neutral tone. Example: 他咳嗽了一个星期。 (Tā késou le yí ge xīngqī.) He has been coughing for a week.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse the right side 欶 with 敕 or 漱, and mix up 嗽 (cough) with 漱 (shù, to rinse the mouth), as in 漱口 (shùkǒu). Remember that 口 means coughing out of the mouth, while water 氵 means rinsing.
Common words with 嗽
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 咳嗽 | késou | to cough | HSK 7-9 |
嗽 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 嗽
How many strokes are in 嗽?
嗽 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 嗽 mean?
嗽 (sòu) means to gargle; to cough; to clear the throat. A common word with it is 咳嗽 (késou), meaning "to cough".
How do you pronounce 嗽?
嗽 is pronounced sòu, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 嗽?
The radical of 嗽 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 嗽 under this radical.
Is 嗽 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 嗽 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why is 咳嗽 written késou and not késòu?
In everyday speech the second syllable of 咳嗽 loses its full fourth tone and becomes neutral. You will see késou in most dictionaries, though the character itself is sòu.
Can I use 嗽 by itself to say cough?
Not in normal modern Chinese. Say 咳嗽 (késou) for the verb or noun, or 咳 (ké) in some short phrases like 咳了两声 (ké le liǎng shēng), coughed twice.