TraceHanzi

硫 meaning and stroke order

liú

Sulfur

12 strokesRadical 石
Strokes12
Pinyinliú
ToneTone 2
Frequency#3,912
Printable worksheet

How to write 硫, 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 硫

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

liúsecond tone (rising)
  1. sulfur (chemistry)

How 硫 is built

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

shístone+liúpennant

石 gives the meaning and 㐬 hints at the sound.

Radical: 石 (stone), shared by 114 characters on this site.

How to remember 硫

硫 combines 石 (shí, stone), which points to a mineral, with 㐬 on the right, which gives the sound liú. Picture a yellow stone that gives off a smell: that mineral is sulfur.

硫 (liú) is mostly used in chemistry and in compound words rather than on its own. You will see it in 硫酸 (liúsuān, sulfuric acid) and 硫磺 (liúhuáng, sulfur as a substance). Example: 硫酸很危险。(Liúsuān hěn wēixiǎn.) Sulfuric acid is very dangerous.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 硫 with 流 (liú, to flow) and 琉 (liú, as in 琉璃 liúlí, glass). All three share the 㐬 part and the same sound, so check the left side: 石 for the mineral sulfur, 氵 for water and flowing, 王 for glaze.

Common words with 硫

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

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
硫磺liúhuángvariant of 硫黃|硫黄[liu2 huang2]
硫酸liúsuānsulfuric acid

硫 in example sentences

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

Tom 摔shuāi倒dǎo进jìn一yī桶tǒng硫liú酸suān中zhōng
Tom fell into a vat of sulfuric acid.
硫liú磺huáng燃rán烧shāo著zhù蓝lán色sè的de火huǒ焰yàn。
Sulfur burns with a blue flame.

Questions about 硫

How many strokes are in 硫?

硫 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 硫 mean?

硫 (liú) means sulfur. A common word with it is 硫磺 (liúhuáng), meaning "variant of 硫黃|硫黄[liu2 huang2]".

How do you pronounce 硫?

硫 is pronounced liú, in the second tone (rising).

What is the radical of 硫?

The radical of 硫 is 石, which carries the idea of "stone". Dictionaries list 硫 under this radical.

What is the difference between 硫 and 硫磺?

硫 is the name of the chemical element, like on the periodic table. 硫磺 (liúhuáng) is the everyday word for the yellow sulfur substance you might buy or see in hot springs.

How do you say sulfur dioxide in Chinese?

Sulfur dioxide is 二氧化硫 (èryǎnghuàliú). Chinese chemical names often put the element 硫 at the end, after the number and 氧化 (yǎnghuà, oxidized).