How to Write 煤 (méi) — Meaning “coal”

Imagine a fire (火) burning a pile of black rock labeled '某' — think of it as "fire from a certain source" underground. This pairs the idea of fire with the unique right side to help recall the character for coal.

The left radical 火 should be written narrow with the three strokes: dot, short left-falling, short right-falling, then left-falling. The right side 某 has a top part 甘 (sweet) over 木 (tree); make sure the whole character is balanced and not too wide.

煤 means coal (a solid fuel), while 烯 (xī) means alkene and 烷 (wán) means alkane, which are chemical compounds. Visually, the right sides differ: 煤 uses 某, 烯 uses 希, and 烷 uses 完, even though all three share the fire radical.

煤 appears in everyday words like 煤炭 (coal, the solid fuel) and 煤气 (gas fuel). Culturally, coal has been a major energy source in China, especially for heating in northern regions, so you often see it in news about energy or mining.

Common words containing 煤 include: 煤气 (méi qì) — gas (fuel); 煤炭 (méi tàn) — coal; 挖煤 (wā méi) — mine coal.