How to Write 哇 (wa/wā) — Meaning “wow; (sound of crying)”

Imagine you see a beautiful flower (like a 圭-shaped plant) and open your mouth (口) to say "Wow!" — that is the sound 哇 makes. The left part looks like a mouth, and the right part resembles two stacked earth layers (圭), which you can picture as a surprising sight. This links the shape to the excited exclamation "wa!".

Start with the left radical 口: write the vertical stroke, then the top horizontal and right vertical, and finally the bottom horizontal; make it small and square. Then write 圭 on the right: first the top 土 (horizontal, vertical, horizontal) then the bottom 土; the two 土 parts are aligned vertically, with the vertical stroke going through both. A common mistake is making the 口 too big or writing the 圭 with uneven spacing between the two 土 sections.

哇 has the 口 radical and means an exclamation (wow) or crying sound, while 君 (jūn) has the 口 radical at the bottom and means "ruler" or "you" in formal contexts. 吝 (lìn) also has a 口 radical, but with the top part 文; it means "stingy" or "grudge." Visually, 哇 has 圭 on the right (two 土 stacked), 君 has 尹 (a hand holding a pen) above 口, and 吝 has 文 above 口.

哇 is most commonly used as an interjection to express surprise, admiration, or excitement, like "Wow!" in English. It can also represent the sound of crying, as in 哇哇 (wā wā) for a baby's cry, but this pronunciation is first tone (wā). In daily speech, you will often hear 好哇 (hǎo wa) meaning "Great!" or "Okay!" — this uses a neutral tone on 哇 and expresses agreement or enthusiasm.

Common words containing 哇 include: 好哇 (hǎo wa) — Great! / Okay!; 哇 (wa) — wow; (sound of crying); 哇哇 (wā wā) — sound of crying or shouting.