yóu
verb HSK 3 #2,419

Meanings

  1. 1 to swim
  2. 2 to travel; to tour; to roam

Characters

Contains the water radical , reflecting swimming as the original meaning.

Examples

HSK 2
Yú zài shuǐ lǐ yóu.
The fish swims in the water.
HSK 2
Tā xǐhuan dàochù yóu.
He likes to travel everywhere.
HSK 4
Yùndòngyuán zài hé lǐ yóu de hěn kuài.
The athlete swims very fast in the river.

Tips

usage
combines with other characters to form common words: 游泳 (swim), 游戏 (game), 旅游 (travel/tourism), 游客 (tourist).

Components

radical
shuǐ
water (left-side radical form of 水)
Left is the three-drops water radical - three abbreviated waves, the side-form of . Anchors the original sense of : 'to swim, drift on water'. From physical swimming came the abstract sense of roaming or touring (drifting from place to place). Same radical family: river, sea, swim, to drift.
phonetic
yóu
banner; drift
Right supplies an exact phonetic match yóu. It originally pictured a child holding a flagpole with streamers flowing in the wind - pure visual of 'drifting'. So this is sound-plus-semantic: the banner's drift reinforces water-drift, both literal swimming and metaphorical roaming. The component is rare standalone but recognisable inside , , .

Stroke Order

yóu