How to Write 锇 (é) — Meaning “Osmium”

Imagine a piece of the metal osmium (锇) is so heavy that it makes you say '诶 (é)!' in surprise when you try to lift it. The right side 我 looks like the word 'I' in English, so you can think 'I (我) hold the heaviest metal, osmium (锇).' This connects the shape to both the meaning and pronunciation.

Pay attention to the left radical 钅: it is written with five strokes, starting with a short left-falling stroke (丿), then two horizontal strokes, a vertical hook, and a final horizontal stroke. The right part 我 has seven strokes; a common mistake is forgetting the diagonal hook (斜钩) on the bottom right, which should curve outward. Keep the overall width balanced, as the right side is slightly wider than the left.

锇 (é, osmium) is a specific metal element, while 钰 (yù) means 'treasure' or 'hard metal' and is rarely used alone, and 钱 (qián) means 'money' or 'coin'. Visually, 锇 has the right component 我, whereas 钰 has 玉 (jade) and 钱 has 戋 (small/thin). Their pronunciations are also different: é, yù, and qián.

锇 is almost exclusively used in scientific and chemical contexts, such as in the word 锇元素 (the element osmium) when discussing the periodic table. Osmium is known as the densest naturally occurring metal, so 锇粉 (osmium powder) and 锇酸 (osmic acid) appear in specialized chemistry texts. This character is not used in everyday conversation and is not included in HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 锇 include: 锇元素 (é yuán sù) — The element osmium; 锇粉 (é fěn) — Osmium powder; 锇酸 (é suān) — Osmic acid.