How to Write 蛙 (wā) — Meaning “frog”

Imagine a frog sitting on two mounds of earth (圭 looks like stacked dirt) while being surrounded by insects (虫). Visualize the frog croaking 'wa-wa' as it guards the mounds. This links the shape of 圭 and the insect radical to the frog sound.

Pay attention to the left-side radical 虫: the bottom stroke is a long horizontal line that curves slightly upward. In the right part 圭, write the two vertical lines straight and evenly spaced; a common mistake is making the top 'earth' too wide. Keep the character balanced, with the radical slightly narrower than the right side.

蛙 means 'frog' and uses 圭 (gui) as its phonetic part. 蚊 (wén, mosquito) uses 文 (wén), and 蚋 (ruì, gnat) uses 内 (nèi). All share the 虫 radical, so focus on the right-side component to tell them apart; 蛙 is the only one with stacks of earth (圭).

蛙 appears in common words like 青蛙 (qīng wā, green frog) and 蛙泳 (wā yǒng, breaststroke, literally 'frog swim'). In Chinese culture, frogs symbolize fertility and wealth because they are associated with rain and harvest. The character is also used in fables, such as 'the frog at the bottom of a well' (井底之蛙) to describe a narrow-minded person.

Common words containing 蛙 include: 青蛙 (qīng wā) — frog; 蛙泳 (wā yǒng) — breaststroke; 牛蛙 (niú wā) — bullfrog.