Character: 有 (yǒu) to have

有 (yǒu) means to have, the character is visualized as a pair of chopsticks picking up a piece of meat

A pair of chopsticks picking up a piece of meat

Pinyin yǒu
Meaning to have; to own; to possess; to have (done); there be
Radical 月 繁體字 same
the written pattern 月, highlighted in red, is found in the character 有 (yǒu) to have 月

writing patterns, not components

Chinese character compound ideographcategory: compound ideograph

Chinese character up down structurestructure: up down

6stroke count

HSK 1

Stroke order of the Chinese character 有 (yǒu) to have. There are 6 strokes, and the character is written from top to bottom

Breakdown

有 (yǒu) “to have” is a compound ideograph that is formed by two parts, 𠂇 and 月 (yuè). The component on top is 𠂇, a replacement of an obsolete element that is used to represent a hand. The one at the bottom is 月 (yuè), the radical of the character. However, 月 (yuè) does not mean “moon” here as it is a simplification of 肉 (ròu) “meat.” Therefore, the form of this character represents a hand holding a piece of meat.

yǒu
有
to have		 𠂇
component		 yǒu
友
friend		 yòu
右
right (side)
yuè
月
moon		 néng
能
can		 qián
前
front

Used as a morpheme/word

Wordlist

How to pronounce

The character sounds like yo, as in “yoga.”

3rd Pinyin Yale IPA
Initial n/a n/a n/a
Final -iou you [jɤʊ]

Chinese character practice sheet

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