How to Write 署 (shǔ) — Meaning “Office; bureau; to sign”

Imagine a government office (署) where a person (者) sits under a net (罒) to signify that their signature is needed to finalize documents. Think of the net as a "signing seal" that traps the agreement into law.

Write the radical 罒 first (vertical stroke, then box), then the lower part 者 (start with 土, then 日, then a curved stroke). A common mistake is making the top radical too wide or forgetting the short horizontal stroke inside the 罒 — keep the net compact so the whole character balances.

署 means office or to sign, while 罨 (yǎn) refers to a net or cover (often used in traditional medicine) and 罩 (zhào) means a cover or hood (like a lampshade). Visually, 署 has 者 below, 罨 has 奄 (cover), and 罩 has 卓 (tall/eminent); their meanings are unrelated to government or signing.

署 appears in formal contexts like 签署 (to sign a contract or treaty) and 署名 (to affix one's signature). It also appears in names of government offices, such as 官署 (government agency) or 警察署 (police station), giving it an official, bureaucratic feel.

Common words containing 署 include: 签署 (qiān shǔ) — to sign (an official document); 署名 (shǔ míng) — To sign one's name; signature; 官署 (guān shǔ) — Government office.