Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

to dash; to move forward quickly

Chinese: 突然、突出或猛冲。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “tu” becomes a different word in each tone. 突 is the 1st 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

  • 突然tū ránsudden; abrupt; unexpected
  • 突出tū chūprominent; outstanding; to give prominence to; to protrude
  • 突破tū pòto break through; to make a breakthrough; to surmount (an obstacle); (sports) to break through the opponent's defense
  • 冲突chōng tūconflict; to conflict; clash of opposing forces; collision (of interests)
  • 突发tū fāto occur suddenly

Example Sentence

天空突然下起了大雨。Tiān kōng tū rán xià qǐ le dà yǔ.It suddenly started to rain heavily.

天空Tiān kōngsky突然tū ránsuddenxiàbelowto risele(completed action)大雨dà yǔheavy rain

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

穴 (a hole/cave) plus 犬 (a dog): a dog bursting out of a hole — ‘sudden, abrupt; to dash, charge, break through; to protrude, stick out’ (突然, 突出, 冲突).

A way to remember it

A dog (犬) bursting from a hole (穴) — sudden; to protrude.