吐 (tǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to spit out”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 土 (earth; soil), side by side, and takes 6 strokes. It has a second reading, tù, which turns up in 呕吐 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “to spit out”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
口 + 土
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·口部（吐，寫也。从口土聲）；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 核验：6 画 = 口 3 画 + 土 3 画
Memory aid
A mouth (口) next to earth (土): something goes out of the mouth and lands on the ground. 土 tǔ also hands you the sound — 吐 tǔ.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 吐出tǔ chūto spit out吐 = tǔ
Go deeper
All readings
to spit out
to spit out; to let out of the mouth; to say (something one has held back)
使东西从嘴里出来；也比喻说出憋着的话。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 吐出tǔ chūto spit out吐 = tǔ
to vomit
to vomit; to throw up (involuntarily)
胃里的东西不由自主地从嘴里涌出来。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 呕吐ǒu tùto vomit吐 = tù
Sound component
土 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 吐 mean?
吐 (tǔ) means to spit out; to let out of the mouth; to say (something one has held back).
How do you pronounce 吐?
Its main reading is tǔ. It also has a second reading, tù, which only shows up in certain words such as 呕吐 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 吐 sometimes pronounced tù?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 呕吐 it is read tù.
What parts is 吐 made of?
口 (mouth) and 土 (earth; soil), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·口部（吐，寫也。从口土聲）；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 核验：6 画 = 口 3 画 + 土 3 画. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 吐 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 吐?
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 吐?
Common ones are 吐出. The reading of 吐 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.