有
yǒu
- Pinyin
- yǒu
- Pinyin (Plain)
- you
- Tone
- 3
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 月
- Readings
- yǒuyouTone: 3to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional)Order: 0Primary
- Stroke Order Code
- Speed
- Stroke Order Data
- ["M 472 626 Q 601 647 868 646 Q 890 646 896 656 Q 902 669 883 684 Q 817 730 754 712 Q 714 705 486 666 L 435 659 Q 306 644 162 625 Q 138 622 156 603 Q 190 572 233 581 Q 321 606 421 619 L 472 626 Z", "M 411 492 Q 442 549 472 626 L 486 666 Q 513 750 539 800 Q 546 810 540 821 Q 533 831 500 849 Q 476 861 466 857 Q 453 853 455 837 Q 465 753 437 664 Q 436 663 435 659 L 421 619 Q 354 462 198 305 Q 149 259 79 199 Q 72 190 78 188 Q 87 185 98 191 Q 291 290 388 451 L 411 492 Z", "M 426 226 Q 430 283 435 324 L 438 351 Q 442 421 448 444 Q 449 451 449 456 C 451 474 451 474 427 485 Q 418 491 411 492 C 383 504 381 480 388 451 Q 418 337 366 150 Q 356 120 344 99 Q 323 63 353 17 L 355 15 Q 362 0 372 6 Q 408 27 424 197 L 426 226 Z", "M 449 456 Q 525 472 604 489 Q 625 495 630 484 Q 651 429 649 119 Q 643 50 639 43 Q 635 37 615 41 Q 587 48 559 55 Q 540 61 540 51 Q 598 2 631 -35 Q 644 -54 660 -58 Q 670 -62 678 -52 Q 717 -1 716 52 Q 680 424 707 473 Q 719 492 707 503 Q 685 522 648 536 Q 629 543 614 536 Q 542 497 427 485 C 397 481 420 450 449 456 Z", "M 435 324 Q 441 323 452 324 Q 531 337 590 346 Q 615 350 605 364 Q 593 379 567 383 Q 536 386 438 351 C 410 341 405 326 435 324 Z", "M 424 197 Q 428 197 435 197 Q 526 209 593 215 Q 618 218 609 232 Q 599 248 572 253 Q 539 259 426 226 C 397 218 394 197 424 197 Z"]
- Meaning
- In modern Chinese, **有 (yǒu)** mainly means **“to have; to possess”** (e.g., 我有书 “I have a book”) and can also mean **“there is/are”** to indicate existence (e.g., 桌子上有一只猫 “There is a cat on the table”). In some set phrases and older usage, it can also mean **“to exist, to occur, or to experience”**, but for beginners the key ideas are “have” and “there is/are.”
- Metadata
- Locale: enCached At: 5/9/2026, 2:27:27 AM
Usage
In modern Mandarin, **有 (yǒu)** is most commonly used as the verb **“to have; to possess; there is/are.”** Learners first meet it in very basic sentences like 我有三个兄弟姐妹 (“I have three siblings”) or 这儿有很多人 (“There are many people here”). It often marks existence in a place, using the pattern “Place + 有 + Thing,” e.g. 桌子上有一本书 (“There is a book on the table”). It’s also extremely frequent in the negative form **没有 (méiyǒu)**, meaning “do not have” or “there is not,” and as a past‑tense marker substitute for 没 in spoken Chinese, like 我昨天没(有)去 (“I didn’t go yesterday”). Learners also encounter 有 in several very common patterns and set phrases. In comparisons, **有** appears in “A 没有 B + adjective,” meaning “A is not as … as B,” for example 他没有我高 (“He is not as tall as I am”). It forms part of many frequent words such as 有意思 (“interesting”), 有用 (“useful”), 有钱 (“rich”), and 有时候 (“sometimes”), where it carries the idea of “to have, to possess, to exist.” In spoken language, you’ll see it in topic phrases like 有的人… (“Some people…”) and idiomatic pairs such as 有的…有的… (“some… others…”), which learners meet early in reading and listening materials.
Handwriting Notes
有 is visually compact and slightly rectangular, with a clear left–right balance and a small “hooked” element at the bottom. In normal handwriting, the top 横 (horizontal) is usually a bit longer than the lower one, giving the character a stable “cap.” The central strokes compress slightly toward the middle, so the character doesn’t look stretched; the lower part often feels a bit heavier, which helps it stand firmly on the line. Handwritten forms can vary in how straight or curved the horizontal strokes are, how sharply the inner angles are turned, and how prominently the small downward or slightly hooked stroke at the lower right is shown—some writers make it very clear and angular, others smooth it into a more flowing, cursive-like line. Despite these variations, the overall silhouette remains recognizable: two main horizontal lines with a more compact middle and a small downward element at the bottom right. Modern AI handwriting recognition systems are trained on large samples of such handwritten variations, allowing them to correctly identify 有 even when people write it quickly, loosely, or with personal stylistic quirks.
Description
有 is a common Chinese verb meaning “to have; there is/are.” It can show possession (我有书 “I have a book”) or existence (有问题吗？ “Is there a problem?”). It also appears in many common words and patterns, such as 有没有 (“have or not have”).