透 (tòu) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

透

tòu[tou4]Tone 4

penetrate; thoroughly

HSK 4

Guru Deep Dive

English · penetrate; thoroughly

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (辵/辶) wraps under and supports the right component (秀), ensuring the whole character feels balanced and stable rather than tipping to the right.

1. Meaning

to penetrate; to seep through; thoroughly

to tell secretly or leak informationto appear or show clearlyto an extreme or thorough degree

Verb / Adverb / Bound FormNeutralBound morpheme#action#degree#state

Sample Usage

雨水透过了衣服。
Yǔshuǐ tòuguò le yīfu.
The rainwater soaked right through the clothes.
他对情况了解得很透彻。
Tā duì qíngkuàng liǎojiě de hěn tòuchè.
He understands the situation very thoroughly.

2. Sound

/[tʰoʊ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

透

tòutou4

`(51)

=tòu

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: t sound

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Explosive puff of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST flutter.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge behind upper front teeth, then releases a strong burst of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with English 'toe'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oh'.

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, like shouting a sudden command or answering an emphatic 'No!'

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the sharp falling Tone 4 with Tone 1 or Tone 3, or confusing the initial 't' with a soft 'd'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, firm karate chop downward, mirroring the high-to-low falling pitch of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (辵/辶) wraps under and supports the right component (秀), ensuring the whole character feels balanced and stable rather than tipping to the right.

4. Components

Radical 辶 · Movement Radical (walking, movement, crossing)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 辶 (Indicates movement, passing through, or traveling across a medium.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 秀 (original sound: xiù / tòu)

A moving foot or passage symbol (辶) combined with grain/corn sprouting or elegance (秀) to represent something emerging, passing through, or penetrating all the way.

辶 Movement or passage radical
秀 Phonetic and semantic clue suggesting sprouting or showing through

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 秀 (xiù)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the movement/walking radical (辶) and the phonetic/semantic component (秀), originally depicting passing through an obstacle or light shining through a barrier.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from physical movement and passing through to abstract meanings like thorough understanding, leaking secrets, and reaching extreme degrees.

The movement radical 辶 (chuò) frequently forms characters related to walking, running, or passing through space.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: トウ / Kun: とお.る / とお.す

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine walking (辶) through a field of grain (秀) so fast that you completely penetrate straight through to the other side, getting soaked thoroughly in the morning dew.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

诱

yòuto entice / temptReplaces movement radical with speech radical (讠), meaning words that entice someone.

秀

xiùhandsome / elegant / showWithout the movement radical (辶), it simply means fine, graceful, or a show.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

诱(yòu)

Check the left side: 辶 means passing through or penetrating (透), while 讠 means words and speech (诱 - entice).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这件衣服太薄了，雨水都快把衣服淋[___]了。

Clue: tòu

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting to add the movement radical 辶 properly or mixing up the right-hand component 秀 with similar phonetic parts like 禾.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 透, what are its primary meanings related to passing through or degree?

Production: How do you write the character for 'thoroughly / penetrate' (tòu) using the movement radical and phonetic part?

透tòupenetrate; thoroughly

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