月 (yuè) is a Chinese character meaning “the moon”. It is written from ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇆ (horizontal-turning hook stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke), and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “the moon”
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
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+6708 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (four strokes: 撇 / 横折钩 / 横 / 横)
Memory aid
A left-falling stroke (㇒) curves down on the left, and a turning stroke with a hook (㇆) comes down on the right — together they hold a tall, narrow crescent. Inside it two horizontals (㇐ ㇐) lie one above the other, the markings you see on the moon.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 月亮yuè liàngthe moon月 = yuèspoken asyuè liang
- 一月yī yuèJanuary月 = yuè
- 七月qī yuèJuly月 = yuè
- 三月sān yuèMarch月 = yuè
- 九月jiǔ yuèSeptember月 = yuè
- 二月èr yuèFebruary; the second month of the year月 = yuè
- 五月wǔ yuèMay月 = yuèHSK 1
- 八月bā yuèAugust月 = yuè
- 六月liù yuèJune月 = yuè
- 十月shí yuèOctober月 = yuè
- 四月sì yuèApril; the fourth month月 = yuè
- 月光yuè guāngmoonlight月 = yuè
- 月份yuè fènmonth (a particular one)月 = yuè
- 正月zhēng yuèthe first month of the lunar year月 = yuè
- 闰月rùn yuèintercalary month; leap month月 = yuè
- 月饼yuè bǐngmooncake月 = yuè
Go deeper
All readings
moon; month
the moon; a month of the calendar
天上的月亮；也指历法上的月份。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 月亮yuè liàngthe moon月 = yuèspoken asyuè liang
- 一月yī yuèJanuary月 = yuè
- 七月qī yuèJuly月 = yuè
- 三月sān yuèMarch月 = yuè
- 九月jiǔ yuèSeptember月 = yuè
- 二月èr yuèFebruary; the second month of the year月 = yuè
- 五月wǔ yuèMay月 = yuèHSK 1
- 八月bā yuèAugust月 = yuè
- 六月liù yuèJune月 = yuè
- 十月shí yuèOctober月 = yuè
- 四月sì yuèApril; the fourth month月 = yuè
- 月光yuè guāngmoonlight月 = yuè
- 月份yuè fènmonth (a particular one)月 = yuè
- 正月zhēng yuèthe first month of the lunar year月 = yuè
- 闰月rùn yuèintercalary month; leap month月 = yuè
- 月饼yuè bǐngmooncake月 = yuè
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 月 mean?
月 (yuè) means the moon; a month of the calendar.
How do you pronounce 月?
It is pronounced yuè.
What parts is 月 made of?
㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇆ (horizontal-turning hook stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+6708 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (four strokes: 撇 / 横折钩 / 横 / 横). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 月 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 月?
月. 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 月?
Common ones are 月亮 and 一月. The reading of 月 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.