How to Write 巴 (ba/bā) — Meaning “to hope for / bar / crust”

Imagine a snake coiling around a bar: the top horizontal is the snake's head, the vertical is its body, and the bottom hook is its tail. This image links to the words "bar" (酒吧) and "tail" (尾巴). You can also think of a bus driving along a curved road shaped like 巴.

Stroke order: horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical hook. The first horizontal is short, the second horizontal is longer, and the final hook curves upward to the right. A common mistake is making the hook too sharp or forgetting it entirely, so practice the smooth curve at the bottom.

巴 has four strokes and starts with a separate horizontal line, while 己 has three strokes and starts with a horizontal bend (横折). 㠯 is an ancient character rarely used today. In meaning, 己 means "self", while 巴 appears in words like 巴士 (bus) and 嘴巴 (mouth).

巴 appears as a phonetic loan in words like 巴士 (bus from English), 酒吧 (bar), and as a suffix in 嘴巴 (mouth) and 尾巴 (tail). It is also a surname and refers to the ancient Ba kingdom in Sichuan. Learners should recognize it in common loanwords and body part terms.

Common words containing 巴 include: 巴士 (bā shì) — bus; 嘴巴 (zuǐ bā) — mouth; 尾巴 (wěi ba) — tail.