误 (wù) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

误

wù[wu4]Tone 4

mistake

HSK 3

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誤

Guru Deep Dive

English · mistake

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:14

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left radical (讠) compressed to about one-third of the total horizontal width, leaving the right component (吴) spacious and well-balanced.

Simplification Logic: The left side uses the standard simplified speech radical 讠 (derived from 言), while the right component 吴 remains identical to the traditional form.

1. Meaning

mistake, error, or fault

to miss an opportunityto harm or ruin through negligenceto delaymistakenly

Verb / NounNeutral#action#cognition#consequence

Sample Usage

这是一个严重错误。
Zhè shì yigè yánzhòng wùcuò.
This is a serious mistake.
不要误了飞机。
Bù yào wù le fēijī.
Don't miss the plane.

2. Sound

/[u⁵¹]/Tone: 51

误

wùwu4

`(51)

=wù

Initial Consonant

Type: Labio-Velar Glide (Zero Initial)

Sounds like: Zero initial (starts directly with the vowel sound w/u)

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Round lips tightly before gliding into vowel.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips rounded forward, tongue retracted to the back of the mouth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: 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 starts high and drops abruptly to the bottom, identical to a sharp English command like 'Stop!' or 'Down!'

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 4 syllable, it slightly shortens its peak drop, though it maintains its primary falling contour.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the Tone 4 falling 'wù' with Tone 2 rising 'wú' (such as 无), especially in fast conversational speech.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, definitive chop downward with your hand, mirroring a stern 'no!' or a steep cliff drop.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 14 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left radical (讠) compressed to about one-third of the total horizontal width, leaving the right component (吴) spacious and well-balanced.

Simplification Logic: The left side uses the standard simplified speech radical 讠 (derived from 言), while the right component 吴 remains identical to the traditional form.

4. Components

Radical 讠 · Speech Radical (Words, speech, language, or communication)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 讠 (Indicates that the meaning relates to speech, a statement, or a verbal slip-up.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 吴 (original sound: wú / wù)

A verbal slip (讠 - speech) where someone says 'Wu!' (吴) instead of the right thing, resulting in a mistake.

讠 Speech radical (left side)
吴 Phonetic and structural component providing the sound 'wù' (right side)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

7· Phonetic Root: 吴 (wú)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined the speech radical 讠 (words) with 吴 (wú, originally referring to a loud shout or looking around), evolving to represent words spoken incorrectly or a stray utterance causing a mistake.

Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting a mistaken utterance or speech error, the meaning broadened to encompass any kind of mistake, error, missed deadline, or delay.

In classical texts, 误 often carried the specific connotation of delaying affairs or causing misfortune through negligence.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: GOKU / Kun: ayamaru

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

오

Sound Shift Bridge: The Mandarin 'wù' shares an ancient root with Japanese On'yomi 'goku' and Korean 'o', reflecting ancient East Asian literary vocabulary transfers.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You made a verbal slip during speech (讠) and yelled 'Wu!' (吴) by mistake, realizing instantly that you made a huge error.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

误

wùmistake, errorStandard character with speech radical

娱

yúamusement, entertainmentReplaces speech radical with woman/person component (女)

邴

bǐngancient place name / surnameUses the village mound radical (阝) on the left

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

物(wù)

物 uses the cow/animal radical (牜) on the left meaning 'thing/object', whereas 误 uses the speech radical (讠) meaning 'mistake'.

务(wù)

务 means 'affairs/business' and uses the 夂 top-bottom shape instead of a left-right speech radical.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

由于疏忽，他在这份合同中犯了一个大[___]。

Clue: wù

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left radical with the object radical (牜) and writing 物 when intending to write the verb/noun for mistake (误).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 误, what is its primary meaning and tone?

Production: How do you write the character for 'mistake' (wù) combining the speech radical and 吴?

误wùmistake

Speed:

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