鱼 (yú) · fish

Measure Word

一条鱼 tiáo

Meanings

1 fish

Characters

鱼

yú

fish

The character is a pictograph of a fish.

Examples

HSK 1

我喜欢吃鱼。

Wǒ xǐhuan chī yú.

I like eating fish.

HSK 3

河里有很多鱼。

Hé lǐ yǒu hěn duō yú.

There are many fish in the river.

HSK 5

爸爸喜欢钓鱼。

Bàba xǐhuan diàoyú.

Dad likes fishing.

Tips

culture

Fish (鱼) is a must-have at Chinese New Year dinner because 鱼 sounds like 余 (surplus), symbolizing abundance. The saying is 年年有余.

grammar

The measure word for fish is 条, used for long, thin things.

Components

pictograph

鱼 yú

fish

One of the oldest pictographs in continuous use - the oracle-bone form showed a fish in profile with head, body markings, fin, and tail. The simplified eight-stroke form keeps that anatomy: the upper hook is the head, the central 田-like grid is the scaled body, the bottom horizontal is the tail. 鱼 is its own Kangxi radical (#195) and anchors 鲁, 鲜, 鲸, 鲨.

Radical

Fish Kangxi #195

Extremely productive radical for fish species and aquatic animals. Chinese names hundreds of fish using 鱼 plus a phonetic on the right. Examples: 鲨 (shark), 鲸 (whale), 鲤 (carp), 鲫 (crucian), 鲍 (abalone), 鳗 (eel), 鳄 (crocodile), 鳞 (scale), 鳃 (gill). Usually appears on the left.