于 (yú) · in; at; to

Meanings

1 in; at; to
2 from; by
3 with regard to

Characters

于

yú

at; in; to (literary preposition)

Examples

HSK 3

关于这件事，我不太清楚。

Guānyú zhè jiàn shì, wǒ bútài qīngchu.

Regarding this matter, I'm not very clear.

HSK 4

她毕业于北京大学。

Tā bìyè yú Běijīng Dàxué.

She graduated from Peking University.

HSK 5

这座古老的建筑建于明朝时期。

Zhè zuò gǔlǎo de jiànzhù jiàn yú Míngcháo shíqī.

This ancient building was constructed during the Ming dynasty.

Tips

usage

于 is a literary/formal preposition meaning 'at/in/to.' In modern Chinese, it mostly survives in set compounds: 关于 (about), 对于 (regarding), 终于 (finally), 由于 (due to), 属于 (to belong to).

grammar

于 is the classical equivalent of 在 (at/in). You'll see it in formal writing and fixed expressions, but 在 is preferred in everyday speech.

Components

radical

二 èr

two; horizontal bars

Two horizontals are the indexing radical. Reading them as the number 二 is a visual mnemonic - historically they're the upper and lower bars of an old wind-instrument or yoke depiction. Radical assignment is conventional rather than etymological, but gives 于 a clean filing slot.

ideograph

亅 jué

vertical hook stroke

The hook stroke cuts down through the two horizontals - together a stylised wind-instrument shape. Early 于 was a phonetic borrow used as the preposition 'at, to'. The hook visually distinguishes 于 from 二; treat it as the binding mark locking the structure together.