How to Write 唷 (yō) — Meaning “Oh! / Hey! (interjection of surprise)”

Think of saying "Yo!" (sounds like yō) with a surprised mouth. The right side 育 looks like a person with a big belly shouting "Yo!" — now picture that person, and you will remember 唷 means "Oh!" or "Hey!".

Write the left mouth radical small and high, then the right side 育 has a dot and a horizontal line at the top, followed by a lower part similar to 月 but with a vertical hook down the middle. A common mistake is making the mouth too big or forgetting the dot on top of 育.

唷 (yō) is an interjection meaning "Oh!" or "Hey!", while 呲 (cī) means to show teeth or sneer, and 咠 (qì) means to whisper. Visually, 唷 has 育 on the right, 呲 has 此, and 咠 has 咠 — different components change both meaning and pronunciation.

唷 is an informal interjection used in spoken Chinese to express surprise or sudden pain, often in phrases like 哎唷 (āi yō, "Ouch"). You might see it in comics, dialogue, or casual writing, but it is rarely used in formal texts.

Common words containing 唷 include: 哎唷 (āi yō) — Ouch / Oh; 唷 (yō) — Oh! / Hey! (interjection of surprise).