How to Write 滤 (lǜ) — Meaning “to filter; to strain”

Imagine pouring water (氵) through a coffee filter while you carefully consider (虑) the taste. This visual links the water and the thinking part to the idea of straining. You can also think of a filter that "considers" what passes through.

The left radical 氵 is narrow and written in three strokes, while the right part 虑 is wider and has 10 strokes. Pay special attention to the bottom 心 (heart) in 虑, making sure it is centered and not too small. A common mistake is making the left and right sides unbalanced, so keep 氵 compact.

The key difference is the right-hand component: 滤 uses 虑 (meaning to consider), while 涪 uses 咅 (pōu, unrelated) and 涫 uses 官 (guān, official). 滤 means to filter or strain, but 涪 is a place name in China, and 涫 means to boil. Visually, 滤 has a 心 at the bottom, which 涪 and 涫 do not.

You will often see 滤 in words like 过滤 (to filter) for water purifiers, coffee filters, or air filters. It is also common in science labs for 滤纸 (filter paper) and in cooking with 滤网 (strainer). In Chinese tea culture, a small strainer (茶滤) is used to catch leaves when pouring tea.

Common words containing 滤 include: 过滤 (guò lǜ) — to filter; 滤网 (lǜ wǎng) — filter screen; strainer; 滤纸 (lǜ zhǐ) — filter paper.