蘆 meaning and stroke order
Rushes, reeds
How to write 蘆, stroke by stroke
20 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 蘆
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) reed
How 蘆 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Grass.
艹 gives the meaning and 盧 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 蘆
蘆 (lú) puts the grass radical 艹 on top of 盧 (lú), which gives the sound. Picture tall grass growing over a sound-maker: reeds that rustle with a lú sound.
蘆 is a bound form, so it appears inside words rather than alone. Mainland China writes it 芦, and you will see it in words like 芦花 (lúhuā, reed flowers), 芦笋 (lúsǔn, asparagus), and 葫芦 (húlu, gourd). Example: 我喜欢吃芦笋。(Wǒ xǐhuan chī lúsǔn.) I like eating asparagus.
Common mistake: In 葫芦 the second syllable is usually said in the neutral tone, húlu, not húlú. Learners also mix up 蘆 with 爐 (lú, stove), which shares the phonetic 盧 but uses the fire radical 火.
Common words with 蘆
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 蘆
How many strokes are in 蘆?
蘆 is written with 20 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蘆 mean?
蘆 (lú) means rushes, reeds. A common word with it is 芦花 (lúhuā), meaning "reed catkin; reed flower".
How do you pronounce 蘆?
蘆 is pronounced lú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 蘆?
The radical of 蘆 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 蘆 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 蘆?
蘆 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 芦, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does asparagus use the character for reed?
芦笋 (lúsǔn) literally means reed shoot, because young asparagus spears look like the tender shoots of reeds. The word can also refer to edible young reed shoots themselves.
What does 葫芦 mean besides gourd?
葫芦 (húlu) is a calabash or bottle gourd, and the dictionary also lists hoist as a meaning. A common phrase is 葫芦里卖的什么药 (húlu lǐ mài de shénme yào), asking what someone is secretly up to.