How to Write 鲅 (bà) — Meaning “Mackerel”

Imagine a mackerel (鲅) that has a fish body (鱼) and a dog's tail (犮 looks a bit like a dog's tail wagging). You can think: "The mackerel goes 'ba ba' like a barking dog that chases fish." This helps you connect the sound bà with the visual shape.

Start with the left radical 鱼: write the top dot, then the hook shape, and finally the horizontal bottom line extending slightly under the right side. For the right part 犮, remember the stroke order: horizontal stroke, then left-falling stroke, then a hook, a right-falling stroke, and finally a dot. A common mistake is mixing up 犮 with 发 (fā) — 犮 has a dot on the upper left, not a slanting line.

鲅 means mackerel (a specific sea fish), while 鱿 means squid (a different sea creature). Visually, 鲅 uses 犮 on the right, but 鱿 uses 尤 (yóu). 鲁 is completely different — it combines 鱼 with 日 (sun) and means "dull" or is a surname, not a fish name. Always check the right or bottom part to tell them apart.

鲅 is used mainly in northern coastal China, especially in Shandong province, where mackerel is a common food. Famous dishes include 鲅鱼饺子 (mackerel dumplings) and 熏鲅鱼 (smoked mackerel). It is not in the HSK word list but appears frequently on seafood menus and in local cooking culture.

Common words containing 鲅 include: 鲅鱼 (bà yú) — Mackerel; 鲅鱼饺子 (bà yú jiǎo zi) — Mackerel dumplings; 熏鲅鱼 (xūn bà yú) — Smoked Spanish mackerel.