勿 (wù) is a Chinese character meaning “do not”. It is written from ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇆ (horizontal-turning hook stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke), and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “do not”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇒ + ㇆ + ㇒ + ㇒
Overlapping structure
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- ㇆ horizontal-turning hook stroke unknown
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+52FF; stroke-level decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry
Memory aid
One slash (㇒) leans in from the left, a turning hook (㇆) sweeps over and down, and two more slashes (㇒ ㇒) cut across the inside — strokes waving you off: don't.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 切勿qiè wùmust not; by no means勿 = wù
Go deeper
All readings
do not
do not; must not (used to forbid or advise against something)
表示禁止或劝阻，相当于「不要」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 切勿qiè wùmust not; by no means勿 = wù
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 勿 mean?
勿 (wù) means do not; must not (used to forbid or advise against something).
How do you pronounce 勿?
It is pronounced wù.
What parts is 勿 made of?
㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇆ (horizontal-turning hook stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+52FF; stroke-level decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 勿 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 勿?
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 勿?
Common ones are 切勿. The reading of 勿 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.