TraceHanzi

授 meaning and stroke order

shòu

To award, to confer, to instruct, to teach

HSK 411 strokesRadical 扌
Strokes11
Pinyinshòu
ToneTone 4
Frequency#1,196
Printable worksheetPractice all HSK 4 characters

How to write 授, stroke by stroke

11 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 授

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

shòufourth tone (falling)
  1. (bound form) to confer; to give
  2. (bound form) to teach; to instruct
  3. (literary) to appoint

How 授 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Hand.

shǒuhand+shòuto receive

扌 gives the meaning and 受 hints at the sound.

Radical: 扌 (hand), shared by 342 characters on this site.

How to remember 授

授 (shòu) is 受 (shòu, to receive) with an extra hand 扌 on the left. Picture one hand actively giving so that someone else can receive: 受 is taking, 授 is handing over.

授 is a bound form, so it appears inside words like 教授 (jiàoshòu), 授予 (shòuyǔ) and 授权 (shòuquán) rather than on its own. It often sounds formal, as in awarding degrees, granting authority or teaching skills. Example: 学校授予他博士学位。(Xuéxiào shòuyǔ tā bóshì xuéwèi.) The school conferred a doctorate on him.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 授 and 受 because they have the same pronunciation, shòu. Remember that 受 means to receive, as in 接受 (jiēshòu), while 授 with the hand radical means to give, so 授权 means to authorize and 受权 means to be authorized.

Common words with 授

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
教授jiàoshòuto teach (a subject)HSK 4
授权shòuquánto authorizeHSK 7-9
授予shòuyǔto award; to conferHSK 7-9
传授chuánshòuto impart; to pass on; to teachHSK 7-9
函授hánshòuto teach by correspondenceHSK 7-9
授课shòukèto teach; to give lessons
授粉shòufěnto pollinate

授 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

他tā有yǒu一yī些xiē教jiào授shòu英yīng语yǔ的de经jīng验yàn。
He has some experience in teaching English.
他tā是shì国guó立lì大dà学xué的de一yī名míng教jiào授shòu。
He's a professor at the National University.
你nǐ碰pèng巧qiǎo认rèn识shí了le布bù朗lǎng教jiào授shòu吗ma？
Do you happen to know Professor Brown?
汤tāng姆mǔ是shì一yī名míng教jiào授shòu，不bú是shì吗ma？
Tom is a professor, isn't he?
那nà位wèi是shì一yí个gè著zhù作zuò等děng身shēn的de教jiào授shòu。
She's a professor whose works you could stack up to head height.

Questions about 授

How many strokes are in 授?

授 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 授 mean?

授 (shòu) means to award, to confer, to instruct, to teach. A common word with it is 教授 (jiàoshòu), meaning "to teach (a subject)".

How do you pronounce 授?

授 is pronounced shòu, in the fourth tone (falling).

What is the radical of 授?

The radical of 授 is 扌, which carries the idea of "hand". Dictionaries list 授 under this radical.

Is 授 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 授 is part of the HSK 4 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.

Does 教授 mean professor or to teach?

Both. As a noun, 教授 (jiàoshòu) is a professor, as in 王教授 (Wáng jiàoshòu), Professor Wang. As a verb it means to teach a subject, usually at university level.

Can I use 授 by itself to say I teach English?

Not in everyday speech. Say 我教英语 (wǒ jiāo Yīngyǔ) instead. 授 needs a partner, as in 授课 (shòukè), to give lessons, which sounds formal or written.

Keep going

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