How to Write 孰 (shú) — Meaning “who / which”

Picture a child (子) sitting at a feast table (享) and asking, "Who (孰) made all this food?" The image of a child surrounded by offerings helps link the components to the meaning of "who" or "which."

The top part 享 has a horizontal stroke that is longer than the bottom 子. A common mistake is making the top too narrow or writing 子 too large — keep 子 compact and centered under the wider top structure.

孩 (hái) means "child" or "baby," and uses 子 with the phonetic component 亥 (hài). In contrast, 孰 (shú) uses 子 as a semantic component but has a completely different top part (享) and means "who/which." Visually, 孰 is taller and more balanced, while 孩 leans left with a simpler right side.

孰 is mostly found in fixed classical expressions like 孰优孰劣 (which is better or worse) and 孰是孰非 (who is right or wrong). It is not used alone in everyday speech, but appears in formal or literary writing to pose rhetorical questions about comparison or judgment.

Common words containing 孰 include: 孰优孰劣 (shú yōu shú liè) — which is better and which is worse; 孰是孰非 (shú shì shú fēi) — who is right and who is wrong; 孰能无过 (shú néng wú guò) — Who is without fault?.