瓜 (guā) is a Chinese character meaning “melon”. It is written from ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and 厶 (private component) and ㇏ (falling-right stroke), and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “melon”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇒ + ㇒ + 厶 + ㇏
Overlapping structure
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- 厶 private component · sī unknown
- ㇏ falling-right stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+74DC and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (five strokes: 撇 / 撇 / 竖提 / 点 / 捺; strokes 3–4 form the 厶-shaped middle)
Memory aid
Two left-falling strokes (㇒ and ㇒) hang down like the two sides of a vine. In between, a small 厶 is the melon itself, dangling. Then one long ㇏ sweeps away to the lower right — the vine running on across the ground.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 西瓜xī guāwatermelon瓜 = guā
- 瓜子guā zǐmelon seeds (a common snack)瓜 = guā
- 瓜葛guā géconnection; involvement (with someone or something)瓜 = guā
Go deeper
All readings
melon
melon; gourd; squash (the fruit of vine plants such as watermelon, pumpkin, cucumber)
葫芦科植物的果实的统称，如西瓜、南瓜、黄瓜。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 西瓜xī guāwatermelon瓜 = guā
- 瓜子guā zǐmelon seeds (a common snack)瓜 = guā
- 瓜葛guā géconnection; involvement (with someone or something)瓜 = guā
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 瓜 mean?
瓜 (guā) means melon; gourd; squash (the fruit of vine plants such as watermelon, pumpkin, cucumber).
How do you pronounce 瓜?
It is pronounced guā.
What parts is 瓜 made of?
㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and 厶 (private component) and ㇏ (falling-right stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+74DC and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (five strokes: 撇 / 撇 / 竖提 / 点 / 捺; strokes 3–4 form the 厶-shaped middle). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 瓜 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 瓜?
瓜. 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 瓜?
Common ones are 西瓜 and 瓜子. The reading of 瓜 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.