流 (liú) is a Chinese character meaning “to flow”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 㐬 (the right-hand part of 流 (亠 over 厶 over three short strokes)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to flow”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 㐬
Left–right structure
- 氵 water (left-side form) · shuǐ meaning
- 㐬 the right-hand part of 流 (亠 over 厶 over three short strokes) · liú meaning
Structure from: 说文解字「𣴅，水行也。从沝、㐬」（篆文从水作流）；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵㐬，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–9 与「㐬」7 画逐笔对应（3+7=10画）
Memory aid
Water (氵) on the left; on the right, 㐬 looks like something tumbling head-first over three streaks of current. Water carrying things along — to flow.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 交流jiāo liúto exchange; to communicate; exchange流 = liú
- 河流hé liúriver; watercourse流 = liú
- 流利liú lìfluent; smooth (of speech or writing)流 = liú
- 流氓liú mánghooligan; rogue; gangster流 = liú
- 流泪liú lèito shed tears; to cry流 = liú
- 流淌liú tǎngto flow (of water, tears, etc.)流 = liú
- 流逝liú shì(of time) to pass; to elapse; to slip away流 = liú
- 痛哭流涕tòng kū liú tìto weep bitterly流 = liú
Go deeper
All readings
to flow
to flow; to spread or circulate; a stream or current; class, rank
液体移动；像水那样流动、传播；水流；品类、等级。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 交流jiāo liúto exchange; to communicate; exchange流 = liú
- 河流hé liúriver; watercourse流 = liú
- 流利liú lìfluent; smooth (of speech or writing)流 = liú
- 流氓liú mánghooligan; rogue; gangster流 = liú
- 流泪liú lèito shed tears; to cry流 = liú
- 流淌liú tǎngto flow (of water, tears, etc.)流 = liú
- 流逝liú shì(of time) to pass; to elapse; to slip away流 = liú
- 痛哭流涕tòng kū liú tìto weep bitterly流 = liú
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 流 mean?
流 (liú) means to flow; to spread or circulate; a stream or current; class, rank.
How do you pronounce 流?
It is pronounced liú.
What parts is 流 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 㐬 (the right-hand part of 流 (亠 over 厶 over three short strokes)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字「𣴅，水行也。从沝、㐬」（篆文从水作流）；IDS 拆分 ⿰氵㐬，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」三点，笔画 3–9 与「㐬」7 画逐笔对应（3+7=10画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 流 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 流?
水. 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 流?
Common ones are 交流, 河流, 流利. The reading of 流 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.