舌 meaning and stroke order
Tongue; bell clapper
How to write 舌, stroke by stroke
6 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
Meaning of 舌
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- tongue
- used in 喇舌[la3 ji1] to transcribe the Taiwanese word for "tongue"
How 舌 is built
Pictographic character. A tongue 千 sticking out of a mouth 口.
How to remember 舌
The bottom part is a mouth 口 (kǒu), and the top part 千 is a tongue sticking out of it. Picture someone poking their tongue out of their mouth and you have 舌 (shé).
On its own 舌 is a bit formal or literary, so in everyday speech people say 舌头 (shétou) for tongue. It also appears in many idioms about talking, like 七嘴八舌 (qīzuǐ-bāshé). Example: 他伸出舌头。 (Tā shēnchū shétou.) He stuck out his tongue.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 舌 with 古 (gǔ, old), which has 十 on top of 口 instead of 千. Look for the slanted stroke at the very top of 舌, which 古 does not have.
Common words with 舌
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 舌头 | shétou | tongue; enemy soldier captured for the purpose of extracting information | HSK 6 |
| 七嘴八舌 | qīzuǐ-bāshé | lively discussion with everybody talking at once | HSK 7-9 |
| 龙舌兰 | lóngshélán | agave (genus of plants); (esp.) Agave americana; agave-based spirit; (esp.) tequila (disti | |
| 饶舌 | ráoshé | talkative; to blather | |
| 口舌 | kǒushé | dispute or misunderstanding caused by gossip; to talk sb round |
舌 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 舌
Learning 舌 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 舌
How many strokes are in 舌?
舌 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 舌 mean?
舌 (shé) means tongue; bell clapper. A common word with it is 舌头 (shétou), meaning "tongue; enemy soldier captured for the purpose of extracting information".
How do you pronounce 舌?
舌 is pronounced shé, in the second tone (rising).
Is 舌 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 舌 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
Why does 舌 appear in characters like 话 and 活?
In characters such as 话 (huà, speech) and 活 (huó, to live), the right side 舌 is a component inherited from older forms. In 话 it fits nicely with the idea of talking, but in many characters it simply works as part of the shape rather than meaning tongue.
What does 口舌 mean, and is it just mouth and tongue?
口舌 (kǒushé) usually means quarrels or trouble caused by gossip and talk, not the body parts. It can also mean the effort of persuading someone, as in 费口舌 (fèi kǒushé), to waste a lot of words.