Meaning
head; suff. for nouns
Chinese: 头部、开端或首位。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “tou” becomes a different word in each tone. 头 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
- 头发tóu fahair (on the head)
- 点头diǎn tóuto nod
- 里头lǐ touinside; interior
- 石头shí toustone
- 头脑tóu nǎobrains; mind; skull; (fig.) gist (of a matter)
Example Sentence
我有点儿头疼。Wǒ yǒu diǎnr tóu téng.I have a bit of a headache.
我wǒI有点儿yǒu diǎn rslightly头疼tóu téngheadache。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Simplified from 頭. The traditional form is 页 (head) plus 豆 (sound); the simplified 头 keeps a compact sign. It means ‘head’.
A way to remember it
Two dots over 大 — picture the head on top of the body.
Easy to confuse with
- 买‘To buy’: a similar lower shape, but with a different top.