杜 meaning and stroke order
To prevent, to restrict, to stop; surname
How to write 杜, 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 杜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- birchleaf pear (tree)
- to stop
- to prevent
- to restrict
How 杜 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Tree.
木 gives the meaning and 土 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 杜
杜 is a tree 木 (mù) on the left with earth 土 (tǔ) on the right. 木 gives the meaning, since the original sense is a kind of pear tree, and 土 hints at the sound. Picture a tree planted firmly in the ground, blocking the path, to remember the meaning "to stop" or "to prevent".
Today 杜 mostly appears in set words like 杜绝 (dùjué, to put an end to) and 杜撰 (dùzhuàn, to make something up), and as a common surname, as in the poet 杜甫 (Dù Fǔ). Example: 我们要杜绝浪费。(Wǒmen yào dùjué làngfèi.) We must put an end to waste.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 杜 with 社 (shè), as in 社会. 社 has the 礻 radical on the left, not 木. Also say dù with the falling fourth tone. Do not read it as tǔ just because it contains 土.
Common words with 杜
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 杜绝 | dùjué | to put an end to | HSK 7-9 |
| 杜松子酒 | dùsōngzǐjiǔ | gin | |
| 杜撰 | dùzhuàn | to fabricate; to make sth up |
杜 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 杜
How many strokes are in 杜?
杜 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 杜 mean?
杜 (dù) means to prevent, to restrict, to stop; surname. A common word with it is 杜绝 (dùjué), meaning "to put an end to".
How do you pronounce 杜?
杜 is pronounced dù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 杜?
The radical of 杜 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 杜 under this radical.
Is 杜 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 杜 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 杜 be used alone to mean "to stop"?
Rarely in modern speech. The meaning "to stop" or "to prevent" survives mainly in compounds like 杜绝 and in literary phrases. In everyday talk people use 防止 (fángzhǐ) or 阻止 (zǔzhǐ) instead.
Why does 杜松子酒 mean gin?
杜松 (dùsōng) is the juniper tree, and 杜松子 are juniper berries, which give gin its flavor. So 杜松子酒 literally means "juniper berry liquor".