How to Write 尿 (niào) — Meaning “urine; to urinate”

Picture a dead body (尸) lying on a toilet with water (水) flowing underneath — that odd image reminds you that 尿 means urine. The corpse represents the body part and the water is the liquid waste.

Write the radical 尸 first (three strokes: horizontal, left-falling, then a small horizontal turning to left-falling), then add the bottom part 水 (four strokes: vertical hook, left-falling, right-falling, left-falling, right-falling? Actually 水: left-falling, horizontal hook, right-falling, left-falling, right-falling? Better: 水 is written with 5 strokes: left-falling, horizontal hook, right-falling, left-falling, right-falling). A frequent mistake is making the bottom 水 too wide; keep it proportionally narrow under 尸.

尿 has 水 (water) under 尸, meaning urine. 尻 has 九 (nine) under 尸, meaning buttocks — no water. 尼 has 匕 (spoon/knife) under 尸, meaning Buddhist nun. Focus on the bottom component: water vs nine vs spoon.

尿 is used for both the noun "urine" and the verb "to urinate." It appears in medical terms like 糖尿病 (diabetes) and everyday words like 尿布 (diaper). The repeated form 尿尿 is a child-friendly way to say "pee-pee" and is not considered rude, but using it in formal writing might be too informal.

Common words containing 尿 include: 尿尿 (niào niào) — to pee; to urinate (informal); 尿布 (niào bù) — diaper; nappy; 糖尿病 (táng niào bìng) — Diabetes.