How to Write 许 (xǔ) — Meaning “To allow / To promise / Maybe”

Imagine that at noon (午) you use your words (讠) to say 'maybe' or 'okay' when someone asks for permission. Another trick: '许' sounds like 'shoo' – you allow someone to shoo away doubts with a promise.

The left radical 讠 is written first with a dot and a horizontal fold, taking up about one-third of the character's width. Then write the right part 午 with straight strokes; a common mistake is confusing 午 (noon) with 牛 (cow) – remember 午 has a horizontal line through the top, not a vertical line crossing a horizontal.

许 (xǔ) means 'to allow' or 'maybe', while 计 (jì) means 'to calculate' and has a right component 十 (ten). 订 (dìng) means 'to arrange' or 'to book' and uses 丁 (nail) on the right. Visually, 许 has 午 (noon) on the right, making it different from 计's 十 and 订's 丁.

许 appears in common words like 也许 (yě xǔ, maybe) for uncertainty, 许多 (xǔ duō, many) for quantity, and 允许 (yǔn xǔ, to permit) for giving permission. In daily conversation, you often hear 也许 when guessing, and 允许 in formal requests or rules.

Common words containing 许 include: 也许 (yě xǔ) — maybe; perhaps; 许多 (xǔ duō) — Many / A lot of; 允许 (yǔn xǔ) — to permit; to allow.