鱼 (yú) · fish

Measure Word

一条鱼 tiáo

Meanings

1 fish

About the ingredient

水产 Fish and seafood

Most fish farmed in China are freshwater, above all carp, and cooks prefer them bought live from tanks. Usually cooked whole, steamed or braised; carp have many small bones.

Contains fish

Also called 鱼肉

Used in 6 dishes

豆豉鲮鱼油麦菜 dòuchǐ língyú yóumàicài

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 hěnduō 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.