驴 (lǘ) is a Chinese character meaning “donkey”. It is written from 马 (horse) and 户 (door; household), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “donkey”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
马 + 户
Left–right structure
Structure from: 《简化字总表》：驴（驢）；说文解字：驢，似馬，長耳。从馬盧聲
Memory aid
A horse (马) standing next to a door (户). Not quite a horse, and it won't go through the door until it feels like it — that's a donkey.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 毛驴máo lǘdonkey驴 = lǘ
- 驴子lǘ zidonkey驴 = lǘ
Go deeper
All readings
donkey
donkey; ass (the animal)
一种家畜，像马而小，耳朵长，能驮东西、拉车。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 毛驴máo lǘdonkey驴 = lǘ
- 驴子lǘ zidonkey驴 = lǘ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 驴 mean?
驴 (lǘ) means donkey; ass (the animal).
How do you pronounce 驴?
It is pronounced lǘ.
What parts is 驴 made of?
马 (horse) and 户 (door; household), side by side. The recorded source is: 《简化字总表》：驴（驢）；说文解字：驢，似馬，長耳。从馬盧聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 驴 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 驴?
马. 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 驴?
Common ones are 毛驴 and 驴子. The reading of 驴 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.