Meaning of 除
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to get rid of
- to remove
- to exclude
- to eliminate
- to wipe out
- to divide
- except
- not including
How to use 除
On its own, 除 appears in formal or set phrases like 除以 (chúyǐ, divided by) in math. In everyday speech it mostly shows up in compounds such as 除了 (chúle), 消除 (xiāochú) and 排除 (páichú). Example: 除了他，谁也没来。(Chúle tā, shéi yě méi lái.) Apart from him, nobody came.
除 has the mound radical 阝 on the left and 余 (yú, remaining) on the right. Picture clearing away a pile of dirt until only what remains is left, which ties to removing and excluding.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 余 incorrectly or confuse 除 with 徐 (xú), which has the double-person radical 彳 instead of 阝. Also, 除了 can mean either "except" or "besides" depending on whether 都 or 还/也 follows, so check the second half of the sentence.
除 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.
除 chú · to get rid of · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 除.
| 除了 | chúle | apart from; besides; in addition to (used to exclude, as in 除了他，誰也沒來|除了他，谁也没来[chu2 le5 ta1 |
| 除非 | chúfēi | only if (..., or otherwise, ...); only when |
| 解除 | jiěchú | to remove; to sack |
| 消除 | xiāochú | to eliminate; to remove |
| 排除 | páichú | to eliminate; to remove |
| 拆除 | chāichú | to tear down; to demolish |
| 除夕 | chúxī | lunar New Year's Eve |
| 开除 | kāichú | to expel (a member of an organization); to fire (an employee) |
| 清除 | qīngchú | to clear away; to eliminate |
| 删除 | shānchú | to delete; to cancel |
| 除此之外 | chúcǐzhīwài | apart from this; in addition to this |
| 切除 | qiēchú | to excise; to cut out (a tumor) |
Questions about 除
What does 除 mean?
除 (chú) means "to get rid of; to remove" and is used as a preposition and verb.
How do you write 除?
除 is made of 1 character: 除 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 除 an HSK word?
Yes. 除 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I tell if 除了 means "except" or "in addition to"?
Look at the adverb that follows. 除了...都 excludes the item: 除了他，我们都去 (everyone except him goes). 除了...还/也 adds to it: 除了中文，我还学日语 (besides Chinese, I also study Japanese).
How do you say division in Chinese math with 除?
Use 除以 (chúyǐ) for "divided by": 十除以二等于五 (shí chúyǐ èr děngyú wǔ), ten divided by two equals five. The less common 除 alone reverses the order, so 二除十 also means ten divided by two.