How to Write 沈 (shěn) — Meaning “Shen (a common Chinese surname)”

Picture a sinking (沉 chén) ship in water: the left side 氵 is water, and the right side 冘 looks like a person falling. The character 沈 actually used to mean 'sink' but now it's a surname, so imagine Mr. Shen sinking into water.

Write the three dots (氵) first, then the right part 冘: a vertical stroke, then a horizontal stroke with a hook, followed by a left-falling stroke and a right-falling stroke. A common mistake is making the right part too wide; keep it narrow so the character stays balanced.

沈 (shěn) is a surname, while 㳄 (xián) means saliva and has a different right component (欠), and 氿 (guǐ) is a rare character for a type of spring. Visually, 沈 has 冘 on the right, 㳄 has 欠, and 氿 has 九 — all different radicals.

沈 is a common Chinese surname, like in 沈先生 (Mr. Shen). It also appears in the city name 沈阳 (Shěnyáng), the capital of Liaoning province. You may hear it in names or place names but not in everyday vocabulary.

Common words containing 沈 include: 沈先生 (shěn xiān shēng) — Mr. Shen; 沈阳 (shěn yáng) — Shenyang (a city in China); 姓沈 (xìng shěn) — Surname Shen.