除 (chú): to remove; to get rid of

Meanings

1 to remove; to get rid of
2 to divide (math)
3 except; besides; apart from

Characters

除

chú

to remove; except

Examples

HSK 2

除了他，大家都来了。

Chúle tā, dàjiā dōu lái le.

Everyone came except him.

HSK 7-9

十除以二等于五。

Shí chúyǐ èr děngyú wǔ.

Ten divided by two equals five.

HSK 7-9

除夕夜一家人团圆。

Chúxī yè yījiārén tuányuán.

The whole family reunites on New Year's Eve.

Tips

grammar

除了…以外 is a key pattern: 除了…以外，都… (except for X, all…) or 除了…以外，还/也… (in addition to X, also…). Context determines which meaning applies.

Components

radical

阝 fù

mound; hill (left-side form of 阜)

Mound radical on the left - 阝 on the LEFT is 阜 (hill, earthwork); on the right it would be 邑 (city), so position matters. The original 除 meant the stone steps cut into a hill or palace mound, hence 'remove/clear away' (clearing the steps). Joins the hillside-and-terrace family: 阴, 阳, 险, 阶.

phonetic

余 yú

I; surplus (here phonetic)

Right component supplies the sound, yú → chú with significant initial drift. 余 was originally a roof-with-stilts pictograph that loaned itself to the first-person pronoun and 'remainder'. As a phonetic it also drives 涂 tú (smear) and 途 tú (route) - the Mandarin reflexes spread but the y/t/ch alternation traces back to one Old-Chinese rime.