勺 (sháo) is a Chinese character meaning “a spoon or ladle”. It is written from 勹 (wrap) and 丶 (dot stroke), one enclosing the other, and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “spoon”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
勹 + 丶
Enclosing structure
Structure from: Unicode U+52FA radical data; modern glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1
Memory aid
Picture the wrapping shape (勹) as a spoon holding one dot (丶).
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 勺子sháo zispoon勺 = sháo
- 汤勺tāng sháosoup ladle勺 = sháo
Go deeper
All readings
spoon; ladle
a spoon or ladle; a unit measured with a spoon
舀取液体或粉末状物品的用具；也可作以勺计量的量词。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 勺子sháo zispoon勺 = sháo
- 汤勺tāng sháosoup ladle勺 = sháo
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 勺 mean?
勺 (sháo) means a spoon or ladle; a unit measured with a spoon.
How do you pronounce 勺?
It is pronounced sháo.
What parts is 勺 made of?
勹 (wrap) and 丶 (dot stroke), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+52FA radical data; modern glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 勺 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 勺?
勹. 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 勺?
Common ones are 勺子 and 汤勺. The reading of 勺 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.