口 kǒu — mouth; opening

Meanings

1. 1

   mouth; opening

   The mouth, and by extension any opening: 门口 the doorway, 出口 the way out. It is the anatomical mouth rather than 嘴, which is the everyday word for the mouth you speak with.

   noun
2. 2

   classifier for members of a household

   measure
3. 3

   a mouthful (of food or drink)

   measure

Character breakdown

• 口

  kǒu (third tone, dipping)

  mouth; an opening or entrance; measure word for members of a household

  3 strokesRadical 口

Example sentences

• 你家有几口人？/你家有幾口人？Nǐ (third tone, dipping) jiā (first tone, high and level) yǒu (third tone, dipping) jǐ (third tone, dipping) kǒu (third tone, dipping) rén? (second tone, rising)···

  How many people are there in your family?

• 他喝了一口水。Tā (first tone, high and level) hēle (first tone, high and level) yì (fourth tone, falling) kǒu (third tone, dipping) shuǐ. (third tone, dipping)···

  He took a mouthful of water.

Common mistakes

• Not quite我们班有三十口人。

  Correct我们班有三十个人。

  口 counts people only when they make up a household. Any other group — a class, a queue, a meeting — takes 个.

Similar words