How to Write 呼 (hū) — Meaning “to exhale / to call / to shout”

Imagine a mouth (口) making a loud "hoo" sound, like calling someone far away. The right part 乎 looks like a person with an open mouth shouting. This visual of a mouth shouting "hoo" helps link the sound hū to the character's meaning of calling or shouting.

First write the left radical 口 as a small square, then write the right side 乎 with a horizontal stroke on top followed by a curved hook. A common mistake is making the 口 too big or writing the top of 乎 as a cross instead of a horizontal line with a downward curving hook.

吁 (xū) means "to sigh" or "to exclaim" and uses 于 (yú) on the right, while 呼 (hū) uses 乎 (hū). 吂 (máng) is rare and means "not" or "to deceive" with 亡 (wáng) on the right; its mouth radical gives a different tone. In daily use, 呼 is far more common for breathing and cheering, while 吁 appears mostly in classical texts or as a sigh sound.

呼 is used in common words like 呼吸 (hū xī) meaning "to breathe", 欢呼 (huān hū) meaning "to cheer", and 招呼 (zhāo hū) meaning "to greet" or "to call". Culturally, 呼吸 is a fundamental word for life, and 欢呼 often appears in celebrations like a crowd cheering at a festival. You would use 呼 when talking about breathing, shouting to get attention, or expressing excitement.

Common words containing 呼 include: 呼吸 (hū xī) — to breathe / respiration; 欢呼 (huān hū) — To cheer / To hail; 招呼 (zhāo hū) — To greet / to call.