How to Write 口 (kǒu) — Meaning “mouth or opening”

Think of 口 as a square smiley face with an open mouth — just draw a square and imagine it talking. This visual link helps you remember that 口 means 'mouth'.

The stroke order is left vertical, top horizontal and right vertical (one stroke), then bottom horizontal. Make the box slightly wider than it is tall, and leave small gaps at the upper right and lower left corners to keep it from looking like a solid block.

口 is just the mouth box, while 卟 (bǔ) adds a small vertical line inside to represent a divination mark. 古 (gǔ) has a horizontal line across the middle (十 above 口) and means 'ancient'. The extra strokes change both meaning and pronunciation.

口 appears in everyday words like 门口 (doorway) and 口语 (spoken language). In Chinese culture, 口 also refers to family members — for example, '三口之家' means a family of three — because each person has one mouth to feed.

Common words containing 口 include: 门口 (mén kǒu) — doorway; entrance; 一口气 (yì kǒu qì) — in one breath; at one go; 口语 (kǒu yǔ) — spoken language.