How to Write 凫 (fú) — Meaning “Wild duck; teal”

Picture a wild duck (鸟) standing on a small table (几) by a pond. The duck is about to jump in and 凫水 (swim), so the table helps you recall that this character means a swimming duck.

Write the top 几 first: a left stroke then a horizontal hook. Then write the bottom 鸟: left stroke, horizontal hook, dot, and a vertical hook. Keep the top and bottom balanced in size; a common mistake is making the 几 too large.

凤 (fèng, phoenix) has a dot inside its top 几 shape and no bird below, while 凫 clearly has 鸟 (bird) under 几. 処 (chǔ, to dwell) has a different lower part (夂) and means to stay, not a bird.

凫 is not very common and is not in HSK. It appears in words like 凫水 (to swim) and 凫鸭 (wild duck). It is mostly seen in classical or descriptive texts about ducks and swimming.

Common words containing 凫 include: 凫水 (fú shuǐ) — To swim; 凫鸭 (fú yā) — Wild duck; 凫鸟 (fú niǎo) — Wild duck.