Meaning
mouth; (a measure word)
Chinese: 嘴、入口或人口。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “kou” becomes a different word in each tone. 口 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
- 门口mén kǒudoorway; gate
- 路口lù kǒucrossing; intersection (of roads)
- 出口chū kǒuan exit; to speak; to export; (of a ship) to leave port
- 人口rén kǒupopulation; people
- 入口rù kǒuentrance; to import
Example Sentence
请在路口向右转。Qǐng zài lù kǒu xiàng yòu zhuǎn.Please turn right at the intersection.
请Qǐngto ask在zàiat路口lù kǒucrossing向xiàngtoward右转yòu zhuǎnto turn right。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of an open mouth. As a component it relates to speaking, eating and openings, as in 吃, 叫, 唱.
A way to remember it
A simple open square — a wide-open mouth.
Easy to confuse with
- 囗The ‘enclosure’ radical: the same square but drawn larger, wrapping other parts, as in 国, 回.
- 日‘Sun’: a口 with a line inside.