泊 (bó) is a Chinese character meaning “to moor”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 白 (white; plain), side by side, and takes 8 strokes. It has a second reading, pō, which turns up in 湖泊 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “to moor”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 白
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS 拆分 ⿰氵白，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–7 与「白」逐笔对应（3+5=8画）；右旁「白」bái 与读音 bó 声母一致，作声符
Memory aid
Water (氵) on the left, 白 on the right: the boat stops where the water lies blank (白) and still — that is where it moors.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 停泊tíng bóto moor; to berth; to anchor (of a ship)泊 = bó
- 漂泊piāo bóto drift; to lead a wandering life泊 = bó
Go deeper
All readings
to moor
to moor; to berth (a boat); to park (a vehicle); to drift about
船靠岸停住；也指车辆停放、人四处漂流。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 停泊tíng bóto moor; to berth; to anchor (of a ship)泊 = bó
- 漂泊piāo bóto drift; to lead a wandering life泊 = bó
lake
lake (used in 湖泊); a pool of liquid
湖；水积聚的地方。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 湖泊hú pōlakes (collective term)泊 = pō
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 泊 mean?
泊 (bó) means to moor; to berth (a boat); to park (a vehicle); to drift about.
How do you pronounce 泊?
Its main reading is bó. It also has a second reading, pō, which only shows up in certain words such as 湖泊 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 泊 sometimes pronounced pō?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 湖泊 it is read pō.
What parts is 泊 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 白 (white; plain), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS 拆分 ⿰氵白，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–7 与「白」逐笔对应（3+5=8画）；右旁「白」bái 与读音 bó 声母一致，作声符. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 泊 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 泊?
氵. 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 泊?
Common ones are 停泊 and 漂泊. The reading of 泊 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.