Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the mound radical 阝) is slightly narrower, while the right side (余) is wider and balanced with horizontal strokes evenly spaced.
1. Meaning
to remove, to eliminate, to divide (math)
exceptnot includingto wipe outstep (in stairs or building)
We want to get rid of the old and welcome the new.
十除二等于五。
shí chú èr děng yú wǔ.
Ten divided by two equals five.
2. Sound
/[t͡ʂʰu³⁵]/Tone: 35
除
chúchu2
|
++
´(35)
=chú
Initial Consonant
ch
Type: Aspirated Retroflex
Sounds like: ch retroflex sound like church with tongue curled back
AspiratedRetroflex
Airflow Tactile Test: Both curled tongue AND explosive puff of air! Tissue MUST fly.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near the hard palate, releasing a strong puff of air
Final Rhyme
u
Vowel Group: -u vowel group
Sounds like: oo sound as in boot
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oo'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T2 (35)
3 → 5 (35)
2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 starts mid-low and rises up sharply, exactly like asking a surprised question in English: 'What?'
Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2, changes to a high-rising variant depending on speech tempo.
👂
Listening trap: Do not confuse with chū (Tone 1, to go out). Make sure the pitch rises from low to high.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture starting from chest level and arcing sharply upward to the ceiling, matching the rising pitch.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the mound radical 阝) is slightly narrower, while the right side (余) is wider and balanced with horizontal strokes evenly spaced.
4. Components
Radical阝 · Mound / Left City Wall Radical (Mound, hill, place)
Semantic Clue (形旁):阝 (Related to earthworks, steps, or pathways)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):余 (original sound: yú / chú sound similarity in old Chinese phonology)
Imagine standing on a mountain mound (阝) and shouting 'CHOO!' to sweep away and remove (除) the excess leftover (余) leaves.
阝 Mound or step
余 Surplus or leftover
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
2· Phonetic Root: 除 (chú)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally combined 阜 (mound/stairs) and 余 (phonetic/surplus). It originally meant stone steps leading up a terrace, where steps are cut or removed from the rock face, later generalized to mean removing or dividing.
Semantic Evolution: From stair steps carved into a mound -> stepping past or crossing over -> eliminating, removing, or dividing mathematically.
In ancient times, mathematics used 除 to denote division as 'taking away' or distributing portions.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
trừ
Mandarin rising tone 35 corresponds roughly to Vietnamese hỏi/sắc depending on historical entering tones, here pronounced as trừ.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: ジョ (jo), ジ (ji) / Kun: のぞ.く (nozoku)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
제
Sound Shift Bridge: The historical initial dental/retroflex affricate maps to Japanese 'jo' and Vietnamese 'tr'.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
You climb the mountain steps (阝) to get rid of (除) all your surplus (余) baggage by throwing it off the cliff.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
余
yúsurplus, IWithout the mound radical on the left, it means surplus or leftover.
涂
túto smear, mudReplaces the mound radical with water 氵, meaning mud or applying paint.
途
túroad, wayUses the walking base 辶 instead of 阝, meaning journey or road.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
余(yú)
余 is the right-side component meaning surplus; 除 adds the mound radical 阝 to mean removing or dividing.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
我们应该[___] 掉坏习惯。
Clue: chú
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the character with 余 (yú) or writing the left radical 阝 too wide, squishing the right side component 余.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see 除, what are its two primary common functions in everyday Mandarin?
Production: How do you write the character for 'to remove / divide' (chú) combining mound and surplus?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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除chúto get rid of, to remove, except
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