偶 (ǒu): accidental, image, pair
偶 (ǒu) is a Chinese character meaning “accidental.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (semantic) and 禺 (phonetic). It ranks #1353 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 偶 person. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).
Definitions
- accidental
- image
- pair
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 偶 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 偶
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 偶像noun | ǒu xiàng | idol | 6 |
| 偶尔adverb/adjective | ǒu ěr | occasionally | 4 |
| 偶然adjective | ǒu rán | incidentally | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 玩偶noun | wán ǒu | toy figurine |
| 木偶noun | mù ǒu | puppet |
| 配偶noun | pèi ǒu | spouse |
| 偶遇verb | ǒu yù | to meet by chance |
| 偶数noun | ǒu shù | even number |
| 木偶剧 | mù ǒu jù | puppet show |
| 木偶戏noun | mù ǒu xì | puppet show |
| 佳偶noun | jiā ǒu | happily married couple |
| 偶然性noun | ǒu rán xìng | chance |
| 丧偶verb | sàng ǒu | (literary) to be bereaved of one's spouse |
| 对偶noun | duì ǒu | dual |
| 求偶verb | qiú ǒu | to seek a marriage partner |
| 无独有偶phrase | wú dú yǒu ǒu | not alone but in pairs (idiom, usually derog.) |
| 热电偶noun | rè diàn ǒu | thermocouple |
| 偶人noun | ǒu rén | idol (i.e. statue for worship) |
偶 appears in 59 compound words: 41 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 19 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 偶 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to do sth once in a while (idiom); to do sth more as an exception than the rule
to decline a marriage proposal from a rich family as one dare not aspire to such an honour
to coincidentally have a parallel; to happen to have a similar counterpart
to decline a marriage proposal from a rich family as one dare not aspire to such an honour
Example Sentences
他偶品很好，在村里很受尊敬。
tā ǒu pǐn hěn hǎo , zài cūn lǐ hěn shòu zūn jìng .
He has excellent taste and is highly respected in the village.
日本女偶像水宙翠自拍惊现“胸部变化”引热议 晒照...
rì běn nǚ ǒu xiàng shuǐ zhòu cuì zì pāi jīng xiàn xiōng bù biàn huà yǐn rè yì shài zhào . . .
Japanese female idol Shui Zhoucui's selfie surprised with "breast changes" and heated discussions about posting photos...
经典赛/被台湾球员视为偶像 王贞治举大谷为例:要想着超越
jīng diǎn sài bèi tái wān qiú yuán shì wéi ǒu xiàng wáng zhēn zhì jǔ dà gǔ wéi lì : yāo xiǎng zhe chāo yuè
Classic/Regarded as an idol by Taiwanese players Wang Sadaharu cited Otani as an example: If you want to surpass
孕期喝了酒对宝宝有没有影响?孕中期偶尔喝一次后果严重吗
yùn qī hē le jiǔ duì bǎo bǎo yǒu méi yǒu yǐng xiǎng ? yùn zhōng qī ǒu ěr hē yī cì hòu guǒ yán chóng ma
Does drinking alcohol during pregnancy affect the baby? Is the consequences of drinking it once in the second trimester serious?
泉州小木偶,撬动观演大市场
quán zhōu xiǎo mù ǒu , qiào dòng guàn yǎn dà shì chǎng
Quanzhou puppets leverage the big market for performances
...hi让人心疼 IKEA赚到广告 16元玩偶全球卖翻
. . . h i ràng rén xīn téng I K E A zhuàn dào guǎng gào 1 6 yuán wán ǒu quán qiú mài fān
... hi is distressing, IKEA earns advertising, 16 yuan, dolls are sold worldwide
汤姆在超市偶遇玛丽。
Tāngmǔ zài chāoshì ǒuyù Mǎlì.
Tom ran into Mary at the supermarket.
我的胃偶尔会阵痛。
Wǒ de wèi ǒu'ěr huì zhèntòng.
I have occasional pains in the stomach.
日蚀只会偶尔发生。
Rìshí zhǐ huì ǒu'ěr fāshēng.
An eclipse of the sun is a rare appearance.
迪克偶尔会上学迟到。
Díkè ǒu'ěr huì shàngxué chídào.
Dick is occasionally late to school.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 亻 (person) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 偶 (ǒu) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 偶 and 遇?
How many strokes does 偶 have?
What is the radical of 偶?
What are the components of 偶?
What are common words containing 偶?
What characters sound the same as 偶 (ǒu)?
Is 偶 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 偶 with real-time feedback
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