鹅 meaning and stroke order
Goose
How to write 鹅, 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 鹅
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- goose
- variant of 鵝|鹅[e2]
How 鹅 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bird.
鸟 gives the meaning and 我 hints at the sound.
Radical: 鸟 (bird), shared by 72 characters on this site.
How to remember 鹅
鹅 is a bird 鸟 on the right with 我 (wǒ) on the left giving the sound. Picture a goose honking "wǒ, wǒ" as it waddles after you, a bird that thinks everything is about me.
On its own, 鹅 means goose, and it appears in food names like 烤鹅 (kǎo'é, roast goose). It is also the base for other birds such as 天鹅 (tiān'é, swan) and 企鹅 (qǐ'é, penguin). Example: 湖里有两只白鹅。(Hú lǐ yǒu liǎng zhī bái é.) There are two white geese in the lake.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes put 鸟 on the left as in 鸭 (yā, duck) or 鸡 (jī, chicken), but in 鹅 the bird part goes on the right and 我 goes on the left. Also keep the second tone é, not the fourth tone of 饿 (è, hungry), which shares the 我 sound part.
Common words with 鹅
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
鹅 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 鹅
How many strokes are in 鹅?
鹅 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 鹅 mean?
鹅 (é) means goose. A common word with it is 天鹅 (tiān'é), meaning "swan".
How do you pronounce 鹅?
鹅 is pronounced é, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 鹅?
The radical of 鹅 is 鸟, which carries the idea of "bird". Dictionaries list 鹅 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 鹅?
The traditional form of 鹅 is 䳘, 鵝 and 鵞. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 鹅 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 鹅 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 鹅 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What measure word is used for geese?
Use 只 (zhī), as in 一只鹅 (yì zhī é), one goose. 只 is the usual measure word for most birds and small animals.
Why is a penguin called 企鹅?
企 (qǐ) can mean to stand on tiptoe or stand up straight, so 企鹅 describes a goose-like bird that stands upright. Similarly, a swan is 天鹅, a sky goose.