肚 (dù) is a Chinese character meaning “belly”. It is written from 月 (moon; month) and 土 (earth; soil), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “belly”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
月 + 土
Left–right structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–3 为「月」（撇、横折钩、横、横），笔画 4–6 为「土」（横、竖、横），合计 7 笔
Memory aid
The left 月 is the body-part sign, and 土 (tǔ) on the right hints at the sound dù. Body plus a tǔ-ish sound: the belly.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 肚子dù zibelly; stomach肚 = dù
- 肚皮dù píbelly; abdomen肚 = dù
- 肚脐dù qínavel; belly button肚 = dù
Go deeper
All readings
belly
belly; abdomen; stomach
腹部；胸部以下、骨盆以上的身体部分。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 肚子dù zibelly; stomach肚 = dù
- 肚皮dù píbelly; abdomen肚 = dù
- 肚脐dù qínavel; belly button肚 = dù
Rare readings, not taught: dǔ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 肚 mean?
肚 (dù) means belly; abdomen; stomach.
How do you pronounce 肚?
It is pronounced dù.
What parts is 肚 made of?
月 (moon; month) and 土 (earth; soil), side by side. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–3 为「月」（撇、横折钩、横、横），笔画 4–6 为「土」（横、竖、横），合计 7 笔. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 肚 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 肚?
肉. 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 肚?
Common ones are 肚子 and 肚皮. The reading of 肚 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.