署 meaning and stroke order
Bureau, public office; to sign
How to write 署, 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 署
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- office
- bureau
- (Taiwan pr. [shu4]) to sign
- to arrange
How 署 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Network.
罒 gives the meaning and 者 hints at the sound.
Radical: 罒 (net), shared by 24 characters on this site.
How to remember 署
署 is built from 罒 (a net, giving the idea of a network) on top of 者 (zhě), which hints at the sound. Picture a network of people 者 working under one roof, which is a public office.
署 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in formal words for offices, like 警署 (jǐngshǔ) police station, and for signing or arranging, like 签署 (qiānshǔ) and 部署 (bùshǔ). Example: 两国签署了协议。(Liǎng guó qiānshǔ le xiéyì.) The two countries signed an agreement.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 署 (shǔ) with 暑 (shǔ, summer heat), which has the same sound and the same 者 part but 日 on top instead of 罒. A related trap is 薯 (shǔ, potato), which is 署 with the grass radical 艹 added.
Common words with 署
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
署 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 署
Learning 署 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 署
How many strokes are in 署?
署 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 署 mean?
署 (shǔ) means bureau, public office; to sign. A common word with it is 签署 (qiānshǔ), meaning "to sign (an agreement)".
How do you pronounce 署?
署 is pronounced shǔ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 署?
The radical of 署 is 罒, which carries the idea of "net". Dictionaries list 署 under this radical.
Is 署 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 署 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 签署 and 签名?
签名 (qiānmíng) is the everyday word for signing your name on anything. 签署 (qiānshǔ) is formal and is used for signing official documents such as treaties, contracts, or laws.
Is 署 pronounced shǔ or shù?
In mainland Mandarin the standard reading is third tone, shǔ. The dictionary notes that in Taiwan it is commonly pronounced with fourth tone, shù.