Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

bean; peas; bean; sacrificial vessel

Chinese: 豆类植物或豆粒。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “dou” becomes a different word in each tone. 豆 is the 4th 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

  • 豆腐dòu futofu; bean curd
  • 土豆tǔ dòupotato; (Tw) peanut (
  • 豆浆dòu jiāngsoy milk
  • 豆制品dòu zhì pǐnlegume-based product; soybean product
  • 豆子dòu zibean; pea

Example Sentence

妈妈用红豆煮了一锅甜汤。Mā ma yòng hóng dòu zhǔ le yì guō tián tāng.Mom cooked a pot of sweet soup with red beans.

妈妈Mā mamamayòngto use红豆hóng dòuazuki beanzhǔto cookle(completed action)oneguōpottiánsweettāngsoup

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

Originally a pictograph of a tall stemmed dish used in rituals. It was later borrowed for the sound to mean ‘bean / pea’, which became its everyday sense.

A way to remember it

A footed bowl on a stand — borrowed to mean ‘bean’.