Meaning
remove; do away with; wipe out; divide; except
Chinese: 去掉、除外、除法。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “chu” becomes a different word in each tone. 除 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 除了chú leapart from; besides; in addition to
- 除非chú fēionly if (..., or otherwise, ...); only when; only in the case that; unless
- 排除pái chúto eliminate; to remove; to exclude; to rule out
- 消除xiāo chúto eliminate; to remove
- 解除jiě chúto remove; to sack; to get rid of; to relieve (sb of their duties)
Example Sentence
老师教我们做除法。Lǎo shī jiāo wǒ men zuò chú fǎ.The teacher teaches us to do division.
老师Lǎo shīteacher教jiāoto teach我们wǒ menwe做zuòto make除法chú fǎdivision (math.)。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The mound radical 阝 plus 余 (sound): originally the steps of a hall — ‘to get rid of, remove, eliminate; to divide (in math); except, besides (除…以外); to appoint’ (除非, 除了, 开除).
A way to remember it
‘To remove / divide / except’: 除了 (except), 开除 (expel).