How to Write 鲶 (nián) — Meaning “Catfish”

Picture a catfish wearing glasses and reading a book, because the right side 念 means "to read" or "to think." This helps you connect the fish radical on the left with the idea of a thinking fish, which is easy to recall as a catfish.

Write the left radical 鱼 first, paying attention to its bottom horizontal stroke not touching the right side. The right part 念 has nine strokes: start with 人 (two strokes), then 一 (horizontal), then a dot, and finally 心 (four strokes). A common mistake is making the 心 component too small or forgetting the dot above 心.

鲶 (catfish) has the right side 念, while 鲑 (salmon) has 圭 (guì) and 鲒 (a type of clam or fish) has 吉 (jí). The visual difference is in the right component: 念 contains a heart radical 心, 圭 is two earth radicals stacked, and 吉 has a scholar top. Their meanings and pronunciations are completely different.

鲶 appears mainly in food-related vocabulary, such as 鲶鱼 (niányú, catfish) and 鲶鱼汤 (catfish soup). Catfish is popular in Chinese cuisine for its tender flesh and is often cooked in stews or with pickled vegetables. Although not in the HSK vocabulary, you will see it on restaurant menus.

Common words containing 鲶 include: 鲶鱼 (nián yú) — Catfish; 鲶鱼汤 (nián yú tāng) — Catfish soup; 大鲶鱼 (dà nián yú) — Large catfish.