瑚 meaning and stroke order
Coral
How to write 瑚, stroke by stroke
13 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 瑚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- used in 珊瑚[shan1 hu2]
How 瑚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Jade.
王 gives the meaning and 胡 hints at the sound.
Radical: 王 (king), shared by 104 characters on this site.
How to remember 瑚
瑚 has 王, which stands for jade (玉) on the left, and 胡 (hú) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture coral as a precious jade-like treasure that sounds like hú.
瑚 almost never appears alone. It lives inside the word 珊瑚 (shānhú, coral) and longer words built from it, such as 珊瑚礁 (shānhújiāo, coral reef). Example: 海里有很多珊瑚。 (Hǎi lǐ yǒu hěn duō shānhú.) There is a lot of coral in the sea.
Common mistake: Learners often write 胡 or 湖 (hú, lake) instead of 瑚 because they sound the same. Coral is a jade-like treasure, so it takes the 王 side, not water 氵 and not plain 胡.
Common words with 瑚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
瑚 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 瑚
How many strokes are in 瑚?
瑚 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 瑚 mean?
瑚 (hú) means coral. A common word with it is 珊瑚 (shānhú), meaning "coral".
How do you pronounce 瑚?
瑚 is pronounced hú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 瑚?
The radical of 瑚 is 王, which carries the idea of "king". Dictionaries list 瑚 under this radical.
Why does 瑚 use 王 when coral has nothing to do with kings?
On the left side of a character, 王 is usually a squeezed form of 玉 (yù, jade). Characters for precious stones and gems often carry it, and coral was valued like a gem.
How is 瑚 pronounced inside 珊瑚?
The dictionary form is shānhú, with 瑚 in the second tone. In everyday speech the second syllable can sound lighter, but learners should say hú with a rising tone.