How to Write 骤 (zhòu) — Meaning “sudden”

Imagine a horse (马) that suddenly gathers (聚) all its energy and bolts forward without warning. The visual of a horse sprinting unexpectedly helps link the radical and the right component. You can also think of a sudden "gathering" of speed to remember 骤 means "sudden."

Stroke order: first write the left side 马 (3 strokes), then the right side 聚 (14 strokes), making 17 total. A common mistake is to make the right side too narrow or to forget the horizontal stroke inside the lower part of 聚. Pay special attention to the bottom part 㐭 (like a small box) — it should be balanced under the top 取.

骤 (zhòu, sudden) uses the horse radical with the phonetic 聚, and means "sudden" or "procedure" in words like 步骤 (step). 骣 (chǎn, not used commonly) has a different right side and is very rare. 骥 (jì, fine horse) has the horse radical with 冀, meaning a thoroughbred horse or metaphorically a talented person. Visually, 骤 has a more complex right side with many strokes, while 骥 is more compact.

Modern Chinese uses 骤 in words like 骤然 (suddenly) to describe abrupt changes, e.g., 天气骤然变冷 (the weather suddenly turned cold). It appears in 步骤 (step/procedure) for sequential actions in instructions or processes. Culturally, 骤 is not very common in daily speech but is frequent in formal writing, news, and literature to emphasize unexpected shifts.

Common words containing 骤 include: 步骤 (bù zhòu) — Step / Procedure; 骤然 (zhòu rán) — suddenly; 骤降 (zhòu jiàng) — to drop suddenly.