吞 (tūn) is a Chinese character meaning “to swallow”. It is written from 天 (sky; heaven; day) and 口 (mouth), one above the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “to swallow”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
天 + 口
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分：hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（第 1–4 笔＝天，第 5–7 笔＝口）
Memory aid
A mouth (口) opening under the whole sky (天) — wide enough to swallow it all down.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 吞下tūn xiàto swallow down吞 = tūn
- 吞咽tūn yànto swallow吞 = tūn
Go deeper
All readings
to swallow
to swallow; to gulp down; to engulf; to take over by force
不加咀嚼地咽下去；也比喻侵占、并吞。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 吞下tūn xiàto swallow down吞 = tūn
- 吞咽tūn yànto swallow吞 = tūn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 吞 mean?
吞 (tūn) means to swallow; to gulp down; to engulf; to take over by force.
How do you pronounce 吞?
It is pronounced tūn.
What parts is 吞 made of?
天 (sky; heaven; day) and 口 (mouth), one above the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分：hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（第 1–4 笔＝天，第 5–7 笔＝口）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 吞 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 吞?
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 吞?
Common ones are 吞下 and 吞咽. The reading of 吞 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.