How to Write 吐 (tǔ/tù) — Meaning “to spit; to vomit”

Imagine you have dirt (土) in your mouth (口) and you need to spit it out — that action is 吐 (to spit). This visual of "spitting dirt" directly connects the components to the character's meaning.

The left radical 口 should be small and placed high, while the right part 土 is slightly larger and centered below. Make sure the vertical stroke of 土 aligns with the middle of 口, and do not extend the bottom horizontal stroke of 土 too far to the right.

卟 (bǔ) uses 口 + 卜 (divination) and means "to divine by drawing lots" — it is rare and unrelated to mouth actions. 古 (gǔ) is 十 (ten) + 口 (mouth), meaning "ancient" or "old"; it has no connection to spitting or vomiting like 吐 does.

吐 has two pronunciations: tǔ means to spit out voluntarily (e.g., 吐口水 spit saliva) or to reveal (吐露), while tù means to vomit involuntarily (e.g., 呕吐). Culturally, it is common in medical contexts and also in metaphors like 吐字 (articulate words clearly).

Common words containing 吐 include: 吐露 (tǔ lù) — To reveal; to disclose; to unburden oneself.; 吐字 (tǔ zì) — To articulate; pronunciation of words.; 呕吐 (ǒu tù) — to vomit / to throw up.