How to Write 俩 (liǎ) — Meaning “two or both”

Imagine two people standing together: the left side 亻 looks like a person, and the right side 两 means 'two'. Picture a pair of friends saying 'the two of us' to remember that 俩 always refers to two people.

Write the radical 亻 first as a vertical stroke with a small leftward hook, then write 两 starting with a horizontal line. A common mistake is forgetting the dot inside 两 or making the left radical too wide. Keep the left side narrow and balance the right side with nine strokes total.

Unlike 俩, which means 'two people', 伯 (bó) means 'uncle' or 'eldest' and contains 白 (white), while 估 (gū) means 'estimate' and contains 古 (old). Visually, 俩 has 两 on the right, whereas 伯 has 白 and 估 has 古. Also, 俩 is only used for people, but 伯 and 估 have different meanings.

Use 俩 informally to mean 'two people' or 'both', especially in phrases like 我们俩 (the two of us) or 姐妹俩 (the two sisters). It is very common in spoken Chinese but cannot be used for objects or numbers in formal writing. A cultural note: 俩 implies a close relationship, so it is natural to say 我们俩 when talking about yourself and one other person.

Common words containing 俩 include: 我们俩 (wǒ men liǎ) — The two of us; 姐妹俩 (jiě mèi liǎ) — the two sisters; 兄弟俩 (xiōng dì liǎ) — the two brothers.