Meaning of 勺
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- spoon
- ladle
- abbr. for 公勺[gong1 shao2], centiliter (unit of volume)
Measure word: 把
How to use 勺
On its own, 勺 (sháo) appears mostly in compounds and measure phrases. In everyday speech people usually say 勺子 (sháozi) for a spoon or ladle, and 一勺 (yì sháo) means one spoonful. Example: 加一勺糖。(Jiā yì sháo táng.) Add a spoonful of sugar.
Picture the outer stroke 勹 as the curved bowl of a ladle, and the dot inside as the bit of soup it scoops up. A curve holding a drop is a spoon.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 勺 (sháo) with 句 (jù, sentence) or 匀 (yún, even), which share the same 勹 outline but have different insides. 勺 has only a single dot inside.
勺 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
勺 sháo · spoon · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 勺.
| 勺子 | sháozi | spoon; ladle |
| 后脑勺 | hòunǎosháo | back of the head |
Questions about 勺
What does 勺 mean?
勺 (sháo) means "spoon; ladle" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 勺?
勺 is made of 1 character: 勺 (3 strokes). That is 3 strokes in total.
Is 勺 an HSK word?
Yes. 勺 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 后脑勺 mean the back of the head?
后脑勺 (hòunǎosháo) literally means the spoon-shaped back part of the brain. The rounded back of the skull is compared to the curved bowl of a ladle.
Can 勺 be used as a measure word?
Yes. It works like spoonful, as in 两勺盐 (liǎng sháo yán), two spoonfuls of salt. It can also be short for 公勺 (gōngsháo), a centiliter, though that use is rare.