苏 meaning and stroke order
To awaken, to revive, to resurrect; used in transliterations
How to write 苏, 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.
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Meaning of 苏
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Perilla frutescens (Chinese basil or wild red basil)
- place name
- to revive
- used as phonetic in transliteration
- used in 嚕囌|噜苏[lu1 su1]
- variant of 蘇|苏[su1]
How 苏 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Plant.
艹 gives the meaning and 稣 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 苏
苏 is grass 艹 on top of 办 (bàn, to handle or do). Picture plants that seem dead in winter getting to work again in spring and coming back to life, which is the sense of reviving.
苏 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It appears in words like 苏醒 (sūxǐng, to wake up) and 复苏 (fùsū, to recover), and it is a common sound in loanwords such as 苏打 (sūdá, soda). Example: 经济开始复苏了。(Jīngjì kāishǐ fùsū le.) The economy has started to recover.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 苏 with 办 (bàn) because the lower part is the same. 苏 always has the grass radical 艹 on top and is read sū in the first tone, not bàn.
Common words with 苏
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
苏 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 苏
How many strokes are in 苏?
苏 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 苏 mean?
苏 (sū) means to awaken, to revive, to resurrect; used in transliterations. A common word with it is 复苏 (fùsū), meaning "to recover (health, economic); to resuscitate".
How do you pronounce 苏?
苏 is pronounced sū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 苏?
The radical of 苏 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 苏 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 苏?
The traditional form of 苏 is 囌, 甦, 蘇 and 蘓. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 苏 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 苏 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 苏 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 苏 show up in so many place names and surnames?
苏 is a common Chinese surname, as in the poet 苏轼 (Sū Shì). It is also short for Jiangsu province and the city of Suzhou 苏州 (Sūzhōu).
What does 苏联 mean?
苏联 (Sūlián) means the Soviet Union. Here 苏 is short for 苏维埃 (sūwéi'āi, soviet), an example of 苏 used for its sound in a transliteration.