How to Write 驹 (jū) — Meaning “foal; colt; young horse”

Think of a young foal that can only say one short sentence (句) because it is still learning to neigh. Combine that image with the horse radical 马 on the left: a horse that can only say one phrase — that is a foal, 驹.

Write the left radical 马 first with 3 strokes: horizontal, vertical, horizontal. Then write the right side 句 with 5 strokes: left-falling, horizontal hook, horizontal, vertical, bend. Common mistakes include making the left side too wide or the right side too tall — keep them balanced, with the 句 slightly wider.

驹 (foal) has the right side 句, while 驮 (to carry on back) has 大 (big) and 驯 (tame) has 川 (river). Visually, 驹's right side looks like a bent hook with a vertical line, unlike the simple big shape of 驮 or the three strokes of 驯. In usage, 驹 is a noun for a young horse, 驮 is a verb, and 驯 is an adjective or verb for taming.

驹 is rarely used alone but appears in words like 马驹 (foal) and idioms such as 白驹过隙 (time flies like a white colt passing a crack) to describe how quickly time passes. The word 千里驹 originally means a horse that can run a thousand miles and is now used metaphorically to praise a highly talented person.

Common words containing 驹 include: 马驹 (mǎ jū) — Foal; colt; 白驹过隙 (bái jū guò xì) — Time flies; 千里驹 (qiān lǐ jū) — a horse that can run a thousand miles; a person of great talent.