口
mouth; opening; MW for people in a household
HSK level
- Pinyin
- kǒu
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 3
- Strokes
- 3
- Register
- neutral
- Measure word
- 个
Stroke order for 口
口 is written with 3 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
What does 口 mean?
口 (kǒu) has three main uses.
(1) As a body-part noun, it means 'mouth' — but in modern spoken Chinese, 嘴 (zuǐ) is more common for the physical mouth, while 口 appears mostly in compounds: 口红 (kǒuhóng, lipstick), 口语 (kǒuyǔ, spoken language), 口味 (kǒuwèi, taste / flavor preference). (2) As a noun meaning 'opening / entrance / mouth of a place,' it appears in 门口 (ménkǒu, doorway), 出口 (chūkǒu, exit), 入口 (rùkǒu, entrance), 路口 (lùkǒu, intersection), 港口 (gǎngkǒu, port).
(3) As a measure word, 口 counts people in a household (我家有四口人 = my family has four people) and is also the measure word for a 'bite / mouthful' of food (一口饭 = a mouthful of rice) and for things like wells (一口井) and pigs (一口猪 — though 头 tóu is more common). The character is itself a pictograph of a mouth — a perfect square opening.
Note: Neutral. As a body part, the more common everyday word for 'mouth' is 嘴 (zuǐ). 口 is used in compounds (口语, 口味, 出口) and as a measure word.
Example sentences
我家有四口人。
Wǒ jiā yǒu sì kǒu rén.
There are four people in my family.
neutral
请在门口等我。
Qǐng zài ménkǒu děng wǒ.
Please wait for me at the doorway.
spoken
出口在哪儿？
Chūkǒu zài nǎr?
Where is the exit?
spoken
我吃了一口就饱了。
Wǒ chī le yì kǒu jiù bǎo le.
I had one bite and was full.
spoken
前面那个路口往左拐。
Qiánmiàn nàge lùkǒu wǎng zuǒ guǎi.
Turn left at the intersection up ahead.
spoken
Common phrases with 口
Synonyms
Don't confuse 口 with
FAQ
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