霍 (huò) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

霍

huò[huo4]Tone 4

suddenly

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · suddenly

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:16

Writing Balance Rule: The top rain/weather-related element (雨) must be wide and balanced, while the lower parts (隹 and 土) are stacked neatly underneath without making the character overly tall.

1. Meaning

suddenly, abruptly

surname Huoquick, agile movement

Adverb / Proper NounLiterary#speed#manner#surnames

Sample Usage

霍然起身
huò rán qǐ shēn
to stand up abruptly
霍去病
huò qù bìng
Huo Qubing (famous Han dynasty general)

2. Sound

/[xuɔ˥˩]/Tone: 51

霍

huòhuo4

`(51)

=huò

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

huo

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "o" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Velar Fricative

Sounds like: h sound in English 'hot' or 'house'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Gentle throat friction (like fogging glasses on a cold day).

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue approaches the soft palate to create friction without completely blocking airflow.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'wa' in 'water'

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

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 plunges sharply down, just like expressing an abrupt command or a sudden shock in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the vowel glide with -uo vs -ao; ensure the lips stay rounded for the 'u' before the 'o'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 is a sharp chop downward, representing something happening 'suddenly' like a falling cleaver.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 16 strokes

4. Components

Radical 雨 · Rain Radical (weather, rain, falling things)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 雨 (indicates the weather-like suddenness or flashing motion)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 隹 (original sound: huò / zhuī)

A sudden rain shower (雨) fluttering down like birds (隹) over the land (土).

雨 rain / weather
隹 short-tailed bird
土 earth / ground

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 霍 (huò)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined 雨 (rain) and 隹 (bird) to represent the rapid fluttering or sudden movement of birds or weather, later expanded to mean suddenness.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from avian or meteorological motion to a general adverb meaning 'suddenly' or 'abruptly'.

Most famous historically as the surname of Huo Qubing, the brilliant young Han dynasty military commander who decisively defeated the Xiongnu.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: カク

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

확

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Suddenly (huò), out in the rain (雨), a flock of birds (隹) dropped down to peck at the earth (土)!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

嚯

huò(onom.) expressing admiration or surprise; (onom.) sound of a laugh+ 口 (mouth)

藿

huòLophanthus rugosus; beans+ 艹 (plants)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

惑(huò)

惑 has the heart (心) component meaning confused, whereas 霍 has rain (雨) and earth (土) meaning sudden.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

听到这个消息，他[___]地站了起来。

Clue: huò

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing it with characters containing similar phonetic parts like 惑 or 郭, and misremembering the 16-stroke layout.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 霍 mean when it appears in literary contexts like 霍然?

Production: How do you write the character for 'suddenly' (huò) with a rain radical on top?

霍huòsuddenly

Speed:

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