于 (yú) is a Chinese character meaning “a preposition meaning at, in, to, from, by, or than,”. It is written from 二 (two) and 亅 (vertical hook), and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “at; in; to”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
二 + 亅
Overlapping structure
Structure from: Unicode U+4E8E and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (two horizontal strokes crossed by a vertical hook)
Memory aid
A vertical hook (亅) passes through two horizontal lines (二), pointing to where something is: at or in.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 于是yú shìthereupon; as a result于 = yú
- 关于guān yúabout; concerning于 = yú
- 终于zhōng yúfinally; at last; in the end于 = yúHSK 3
Go deeper
All readings
at; in; to
a preposition meaning at, in, to, from, by, or than, depending on context
介词，可表示时间、处所、对象、来源、被动或比较等关系。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 于是yú shìthereupon; as a result于 = yú
- 关于guān yúabout; concerning于 = yú
- 终于zhōng yúfinally; at last; in the end于 = yúHSK 3
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 于 mean?
于 (yú) means a preposition meaning at, in, to, from, by, or than, depending on context.
How do you pronounce 于?
It is pronounced yú.
What parts is 于 made of?
二 (two) and 亅 (vertical hook). The recorded source is: Unicode U+4E8E and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (two horizontal strokes crossed by a vertical hook). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 于 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 于?
二. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 于?
Common ones are 于是 and 关于. The reading of 于 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.