口 (kǒu) is a Chinese character meaning “mouth”. It is written from 冂 (down box) and 一 (one), one above the other, and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “mouth; opening”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
冂 + 一
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+53E3 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (three strokes: 冂 then 一)
Memory aid
The down-box shape (冂) meets one bottom line (一), closing into a mouth-shaped opening.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 入口rù kǒuentrance口 = kǒu
- 人口rén kǒupopulation口 = kǒu
- 井口jǐng kǒuthe mouth of a well; wellhead口 = kǒuspoken asjíng kǒu
- 伤口shāng kǒuwound; cut口 = kǒu
- 口供kǒu gòngoral confession; statement given to an investigator口 = kǒu
- 口味kǒu wèitaste; one's preference in food口 = kǒu
- 口诀kǒu juérhymed formula used for memorizing口 = kǒu
- 拗口ào kǒuawkward to say; tongue-twisting口 = kǒu
- 门口mén kǒudoorway; entrance口 = kǒu
- 借口jiè kǒuexcuse; pretext口 = kǒu
- 口哨kǒu shàowhistle (the sound made by blowing through the lips); a whistle口 = kǒu
- 胃口wèi kǒuappetite口 = kǒu
- 胸口xiōng kǒuchest; the pit of the stomach口 = kǒu
- 茬口chá kǒuthe stubble left in a field; the crop that follows in a rotation口 = kǒu
Go deeper
All readings
mouth
mouth; opening; entrance
嘴；容器或通道开通的地方；出入的地方。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 入口rù kǒuentrance口 = kǒu
- 人口rén kǒupopulation口 = kǒu
- 井口jǐng kǒuthe mouth of a well; wellhead口 = kǒuspoken asjíng kǒu
- 伤口shāng kǒuwound; cut口 = kǒu
- 口供kǒu gòngoral confession; statement given to an investigator口 = kǒu
- 口味kǒu wèitaste; one's preference in food口 = kǒu
- 口诀kǒu juérhymed formula used for memorizing口 = kǒu
- 拗口ào kǒuawkward to say; tongue-twisting口 = kǒu
- 门口mén kǒudoorway; entrance口 = kǒu
- 借口jiè kǒuexcuse; pretext口 = kǒu
- 口哨kǒu shàowhistle (the sound made by blowing through the lips); a whistle口 = kǒu
- 胃口wèi kǒuappetite口 = kǒu
- 胸口xiōng kǒuchest; the pit of the stomach口 = kǒu
- 茬口chá kǒuthe stubble left in a field; the crop that follows in a rotation口 = kǒu
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 口 mean?
口 (kǒu) means mouth; opening; entrance.
How do you pronounce 口?
It is pronounced kǒu.
What parts is 口 made of?
冂 (down box) and 一 (one), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+53E3 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (three strokes: 冂 then 一). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 口 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 口?
口. 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 口?
Common ones are 入口 and 人口. The reading of 口 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.