门/門 mén — door, gate; a doorway; measure word for school subjects and courses (一门课)

Pinyin

• mén (second tone, rising)

door, gate; a doorway; measure word for school subjects and courses (一门课)

Character breakdown

• 门shape partA single graph: the simplified shape is the traditional 門 — a gateway of two leaves — written at cursive speed.

Mnemonic

The traditional 門 draws a gateway of two leaves facing one another. Take one leaf away and you are left with 户, a single door — which is why 户 came to count households. The simplified 门 is that gateway written at speed, in three strokes. It heads a whole section of the dictionary: 问 a mouth at the gate, 间 the sun in the gateway, 闭 a gate shut. And it is the sound inside 们, the plural ending of 我们.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 门

• 门/門mén (second tone, rising)door, gate