How to Write 宿 (sù/xiǔ/xiù) — Meaning “To stay overnight / Lodge”

Imagine a roof (宀) over a hundred (百) sleeping people — the roof provides shelter for many to stay overnight. The number 100 emphasizes that this is a place for lodging, like a dormitory or hotel. Visualize a large building with a hundred beds under one roof.

Start with the roof radical 宀 (dot, stroke from top left to right, then the left dot), then write the lower part 佰: first the left vertical stroke, then the horizontal and vertical for 百. Pay attention to the width of 宀 — it should cover the lower part, but not too wide. A common mistake is making the roof too narrow or forgetting the dot inside 百 (the dot is inside the middle of 日-like part, but note that 百 has a horizontal line and then 日, but actually 百 is written as horizontal, then left vertical, then the inner part). More precisely, 佰 is 亻+百; the radical 亻 is written first (two strokes), then 百 (横, 竖, 横折, 横, 横, with a dot? Actually 百 has a dot? No, 百 is 一 + 白? Wait, 宿 lower part is 佰 which is 亻+百, and 百 is 一 + 白 (with a dot? Actually 白 has a dot? No, 白 is 撇,竖,横折,横,横; but 百 is 横,竖,横折,横,横; no dot. So careful: common mistake is adding a dot inside 白/百? No dot. The character 宿 is written with 宀 then 亻 then 百: roof, person radical, then hundred. Ensure the person radical is narrow and left-aligned.

宿 (sù) focuses on sleeping overnight, as in a dormitory (宿舍) or lodging (住宿), while 客 (kè) means 'guest' or 'customer', and 宣 (xuān) means to declare or announce. Visually, 宿 has the roof radical plus a person (亻) and a hundred (百), 客 has roof plus each (各) meaning guest, and 宣 has roof plus a straight line (一) and 回 (or a variation). So 宿 always contains the person radical and the hundred component, whereas 客 uses 各 and 宣 uses a different lower part.

Common words containing 宿 include: 宿舍 (sù shè) — dormitory; 住宿 (zhù sù) — accommodation; lodging; 一宿 (yī xiǔ) — one night / overnight.