How to Write 售 (shòu) — Meaning “To sell”

Picture a bird (隹) sitting on a mouth (口) that is shouting "For sale!" The image of a bird being sold as a product, with the mouth acting as a loudspeaker, helps you remember that 售 means "to sell".

Write the top bird part 隹 first (8 strokes: left stroke, vertical, dot, three horizontals, vertical, horizontal), then the mouth 口 below (3 strokes: vertical, horizontal fold, horizontal). A common mistake is making the mouth too wide or uneven; keep it centered and slightly narrower than the bird part.

售 has a bird (隹) on top and a mouth (口) on the bottom and means "to sell". 呲 has the mouth radical on the left and 此 on the right, meaning "to scold" or "to show teeth". 咠 has the mouth on the left and 耳 (ear) on the right, meaning "to whisper" – visually different from 售's bird-plus-mouth structure.

售 is common in formal commercial contexts, such as 零售 (retail), 销售 (sales), and 售票 (ticket selling). You will see it at train stations, stores, and on signs, and it is more formal than the casual word 卖.

Common words containing 售 include: 售票 (shòu piào) — To sell tickets; 零售 (líng shòu) — retail; 销售 (xiāo shòu) — To sell / Sales.