许 (xǔ): to allow, perhaps
许 (xǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to allow, perhaps.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 讠 (semantic) and 午 (phonetic). It ranks #263 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 许 speech. Its radical form 讠 (speech) appears in many related characters such as 认 (rèn, to recognize, to admit), 记 (jì, to remember, to record), 识 (shí, to know, knowledge).
Definitions
- to allow, perhaps
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 许 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 许
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 也许adverb | yě xǔ | perhaps | 4 |
| 或许adverb | huò xǔ | perhaps | 5 |
| 允许verb | yǔn xǔ | to permit | 4 |
| 不许verb | bù xǔ | not to allow | 6 |
| 许多numeral | xǔ duō | many | 4 |
| 许可verb | xǔ kě | to allow | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 许诺 | xǔ nuò | to promise |
| 许可证 | xǔ kě zhèng | license |
| 许愿 | xǔ yuàn | to make a wish |
| 准许 | zhǔn xǔ | to allow |
| 容许 | róng xǔ | to permit |
| 些许 | xiē xǔ | a few |
| 特许 | tè xǔ | license |
| 少许 | shǎo xǔ | a little |
| 许久 | xǔ jiǔ | for a long time |
| 兴许 | xīng xǔ | (coll.) perhaps |
| 默许 | mò xǔ | to accept tacitly |
| 赞许 | zàn xǔ | to praise |
| 稍许 | shāo xǔ | a little |
| 特许权 | tè xǔ quán | patent |
| 许配 | xǔ pèi | to betroth a girl (in arranged marriages) |
许 appears in 63 compound words: 41 as the first character, 43 as the last, and 16 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 许 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
未经允许，任何人不得进入实验室。
Wèi jīng yǔnxǔ, rènhé rén bùdé jìnrù shíyànshì.
Without permission, no one is allowed to enter the laboratory.
美元还能强多久?新台币盘整静待联准会“华许政策”
měi yuán hái néng qiáng duō jiǔ ? xīn tái bì pán zhěng jìng dài lián zhǔn huì huá xǔ zhèng cè
How long can the dollar be strong? The consolidation of the New Taiwan dollar awaits the Federal Reserve's "Huaxu policy"
...年4丨可岚陈逸璇Rock爆造型突破自己 许美琪由朝喊到晚有花名
. . . nián 4 丨 kě 岚 chén yì 璇 R o c k bào zào xíng tū pò zì jǐ xǔ měi 琪 yóu cháo hǎn dào wǎn yǒu huā míng
... Year 4丨Ke Lan Chen Yixuan Rock Breakthrough Self Xu Meiqi shouted from morning to night, and had a nickname
河北男孩放寒假每天睡到中午12点,爸爸不许家人打扰..
hé běi nán hái fàng hán jiǎ měi tiān shuì dào zhōng wǔ 1 2 diǎn , bà bà bù xǔ jiā rén dǎ rǎo . .
Hebei boy slept until 12 noon every day during the winter vacation, and his father did not allow his family to disturb him:
...手黄晓琴:做骑手与社会连接的纽带|在春天许一..
. . . shǒu huáng xiǎo qín : zuò qí shǒu yǔ shè huì lián jiē de niǔ dài zài chūn tiān xǔ yī . .
... Hand Huang Xiaoqin: Be the link between riders and society|In the spring, Xu Yi:
美国12月营建许可总数录得144.8万户,为202..
měi guó yuè yíng jiàn xǔ kě zǒng shǔ lù dé . mò hù , wéi . .
U.S. building permits totaled 1.448 million in December, up from 202...
你有没有许下什么新年愿望？
Nǐ yǒuméiyǒu xǔxià shénme xīnnián yuànwàng?
Did you make any New Year's resolutions?
你认为汤姆会允许玛丽这么做吗？
Nǐ rènwéi Tāngmǔ huì yǔnxǔ Mǎlì zhème zuò ma?
Do you think Tom will permit Mary to do that?
是谁允许你做这样的事的？
Shì shéi yǔnxǔ nǐ zuò zhèyàng de shì de?
Who gave you the right to do such a thing?
也许我会马上放弃然后去打盹。
Yěxǔ wǒ huì mǎshàng fàngqì ránhòu qù dǎdǔn.
I may give up soon and just take a nap.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 许 (xǔ)?
Is 许 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 许 with real-time feedback
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