Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

fire; flame

Chinese: 火焰、燃烧或热。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “huo” becomes a different word in each tone. 火 is the 3rd 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

  • 火车huǒ chētrain
  • 火车站huǒ chē zhàntrain station
  • 着火zháo huǒto catch fire
  • 火灾huǒ zāiserious fire (in a city or a forest etc)
  • 火腿huǒ tuǐham

Example Sentence

夜晚的灯火照亮了回家的路。Yè wǎn de dēng huǒ zhào liàng le huí jiā de lù.The lights at night brighten the road home.

夜晚Yè wǎnnightdeof灯火dēng huǒlights照亮zhào liàngto illuminatele(completed action)回家huí jiāto return homedeofroad (CL:条)

Memory Note

The shape can be imagined as flames rising and spreading outward, making fire easy to remember.

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

A pictograph of a flame rising to a point with sparks on either side. At the bottom of a character it is written 灬, as in 热, 点, 照.

A way to remember it

A central flame with two sparks leaping off the sides.

Easy to confuse with

  • huǒThe four-dot ‘fire’ radical: the same 火 flattened into four dots at a character’s base.