Writing Balance Rule: Keep the single vertical hanging stroke balanced with the top roof flap, ensuring the inner hook sweeps neatly without crowding the empty space.
1. Meaning
household
doorfamilyaccount (e.g. bank account)
NounNeutral#society#architecture#economics
Sample Usage
每户人家
měi hù rén jiā
every household
开户
kāi hù
to open an account
2. Sound
/[xu⁵¹]/Tone: 51
户
hùhu4
|
++
`(51)
=hù
Initial Consonant
h
Type: Velar Fricative
Sounds like: h sound like in 'hot'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Gentle throat friction (like fogging glasses on a cold day).
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue stays low and relaxed at the floor of the mouth while air friction occurs in the throat.
Final Rhyme
u
Vowel Group: -u vowel group
Sounds like: -u rhymes with oo in boot
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oo'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T4 (51)
5 → 1 (51)
4th Tone (High-Falling)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 is a sharp, authoritative drop, mirroring an emphatic command or a sudden downward nod in English.
👂
Listening trap: Do not confuse Tone 4 (hù) with Tone 2 (hú) or Tone 3 (hǔ). Make sure the pitch starts high and falls decisively.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, like nodding your head firmly in an authoritative 'No!'
3. Writing
Topology: Single character · Strokes: 4 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: Keep the single vertical hanging stroke balanced with the top roof flap, ensuring the inner hook sweeps neatly without crowding the empty space.
4. Components
Radical户 · door radical (door or single-leaf door)
Originally depicted as a single-leaf wooden door attached to a frame.
户 door leaf and frame structure
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
8· Phonetic Root: 户 (hù)
5. History
Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)
Origin: In Oracle Bone script, 户 was drawn as a single-panel wooden door attached to a doorframe or wall, representing an entrance to a home.
Semantic Evolution: From its literal meaning of a 'single-leaf door', it extended to mean a doorway, then a house or family living behind that door, and eventually expanded to mean an individual household or account.
Ancient Chinese homes often used single-leaf doors, which inspired this distinct character shape.
6. Sinosphere
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: コ (ko) / Kun: と (to)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
호
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Imagine a single wooden door (户) standing wide open, welcoming every family and household into the home.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
妒
dùjealousAdded the woman radical (女) to show a woman feeling jealous inside the household.
炉
lústove / furnaceAdded the fire radical (火) for a stove heating up the household.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
尸(shī)
尸 means corpse and lacks the bottom hooking curve found in 户.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
中国政府每年都会统计全国有多少[___]人口。
Clue: hù
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the shape with 尸 (corpse) or writing the inner hook incorrectly.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see 户, what does it represent in modern vocabulary regarding households and accounts?
Production: How do you write the character for 'household' (hù) with 4 strokes?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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户hùhousehold, door, family
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