Where 友 comes from
Two hands 又 joined, representing friendship; 又 also provides the pronunciation
How to write 友 (yǒu, “friend”)
友 (yǒu), an HSK 1 character, means “friend”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. Dictionaries list it under the radical 又 (“again”). Among the HSK words it appears in 朋友 (“friend”), 女朋友 (“girlfriend”) and 小朋友 (“child”). Japanese reads it yuu, “friend”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- yǒu
- Strokes
- 4
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 又 (“again”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Horizontal then left-falling ㇇centerrightwards → down and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| yǒu third tone | friend | — | 小朋友 友好 友情 网友 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 98 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 友
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 朋友 | péngyou | friend HSK 1 |
| 女朋友 | nǚpéngyou | girlfriend HSK 1 |
| 小朋友 | xiǎopéngyǒu | child; kid… HSK 1 |
| 男朋友 | nánpéngyou | boyfriend HSK 1 |
| 友好 | yǒuhǎo | friendly; amicable HSK 4 |
| 友情 | yǒuqíng | friendly feelings; friendship HSK 4 |
| 网友 網友 | wǎngyǒu | online friend; netizen HSK 4 |
| 友谊 友誼 | yǒuyì | companionship; fellowship HSK 4 |
| 亲朋好友 親朋好友 | qīnpéng-hǎoyǒu | friends and family; kith and kin HSK 5 |
| 友人 | yǒurén | friend HSK 7-9 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Contain it:
HSK 1, in list order: