友 yǒu — friend; friendly, amicable
yǒu (third tone, dipping)
friend; friendly, amicable
4 strokesRadical 又Frequency #481
Pinyin
- yǒu (third tone, dipping)
friend; friendly, amicable
Character breakdown
Ideographic description
⿸𠂇又The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.
- 𠂇meaning partno entry yetA left hand, drawn as two strokes: the arm and the fingers.
- 又meaning partA right hand. Two hands reaching the same way — not grappling, but working together.
Mnemonic
Two hands, one above the other, both pointing the same way: people who pull in the same direction. Compare 双, where two hands stand side by side to mean "a pair", and 反, where a hand turns something over. 友 has four strokes only, and the trap is the first two — they are the left hand 𠂇, not the 大 or 才 they resemble at speed.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.