How to Write 鳄 (è) — Meaning “crocodile”

Imagine a crocodile opening its huge jaws to say "Eh?" — the right part 咢 looks like an open mouth with teeth, and the pinyin è matches that sound. The left side 鱼 reminds you it lives in water, so picture a fish-shaped crocodile saying "Eh."

The left radical 鱼 must be written narrow, with the bottom stroke turning upward. The right part 咢 has two 口 (mouth) stacked, and the bottom 亏 should not be too wide — a common mistake is making the right side too tall or unbalanced. Keep the whole character roughly square, with the left side taking about one-third of the width.

鳄 (è) means crocodile and uses the right side 咢. 鲠 (gěng) means fishbone and uses the right side 更 (gèng). 鲡 (lí) is a type of fish (eel) and uses 丽 (lì). All share the 鱼 radical, but the right parts are completely different in shape and pronunciation.

鳄 appears mostly in the word 鳄鱼 (è yú, crocodile) and related terms like 鳄鱼皮 (crocodile skin) or 小鳄鱼 (baby crocodile). It is not common in everyday conversation because crocodiles are not native to China, but it appears in nature documentaries, fashion (leather goods), and idioms like 鳄鱼的眼泪 (crocodile tears), meaning fake sorrow.

Common words containing 鳄 include: 鳄鱼 (è yú) — crocodile; 鳄鱼皮 (è yú pí) — crocodile skin; 小鳄鱼 (xiǎo è yú) — baby crocodile.