DICTIONARY
The Chinese word shou - 首 - shǒu
(head in Chinese)
Phonetic script (Hanyu Pinyin)
shǒu
Listen to pronunciation
(Mandarin = standard Chinese without accent)
You're listening to the natural voice of a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese.
English translations
head, first, original,
highest, earliest
Chinese character and stroke order animation"How do I write 首 ( shǒu ) correctly?"
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The traditional Chinese characters of shǒu are identical with the modern (simplified) characters displayed above.
Chinese Pinyin example sentence with 首 ( shou / shǒu ) ⓘWriting in Pinyin
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Wo gei ni chang yi shou ge.
Wǒ gěi nǐ chàng yī shǒu gē.– English translation: I'll sing you a song.
Character complexity
首 is composed of 9 strokes and therefore is of low complexity compared to the other simplified Chinese characters (average: 13.1 strokes).
Tags and additional information
(Meaning of individual characters, character components etc.)
capital | first of all
首 ( shou / shǒu ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 430)
首 ( shou / shǒu ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 430)
Chinese example words containing the character 首 ( shou / shǒu )
Other characters that are pronounced shǒu in Chinese
Report missing or erroneous translation of shou in English
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Version 5.52 / Last updated: 2026-11-03