(sòu) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

sòu to gargle; to cough; to clear the throat 14 strokes · Radical (mouth) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 嗽 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced sòu.

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
嗽 — 14 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
left mouth
right to suck

Radical

The radical of is — meaning mouth. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: .

How the character is built

is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component (mouth) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 嗽

késou to cough
他咳嗽了好几天了。
Tā késou le hǎo jǐ tiān le.
He has been coughing for several days.

Tasks Featuring 嗽 / 相关任务

Words containing appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:

📚 谈论就医情况、健康生活
Health & Medical · 咳嗽

FAQ

What does 嗽 mean in Chinese?

嗽 (sòu) means to gargle; to cough; to clear the throat. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 嗽 have?

嗽 is written in 14 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 嗽?

The radical of 嗽 is 口 (mouth). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 品, 吹, 台, 否, 另.

What is the pinyin for 嗽?

嗽 is pronounced sòu.

What HSK 4 words use 嗽?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 嗽 appears in 1 word, including 咳嗽 (késou). See the full list above.

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