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老 lǎo — “old”

How to write and say the Chinese character 老 (lǎo), which means old — with stroke order, audio, its story, and an example sentence. Theme: Family & people.

Pinyin · 拼音 lǎo
Meaning · 意思 old
Strokes · 笔画 6
Radical · 部首 老 (old)
Hear it · 听发音
Watch it drawn stroke by stroke →

Stroke order笔顺

老 is written with 6 strokes, in this order (the red stroke is the one being added):

The story behind it字源小故事

A little picture: a person bent over with long hair 匕 and a crutch; compare 耂.

A common word常用词

老lǎo师shī

teacher

Example sentence例句

老lǎo师shī教jiāo我wǒ们men写xiě字zì。

The teacher teaches us to write.

This page is part of the free Chinese character explorer from Casey Foundation Chinese School — a Saturday community Chinese school in Narre Warren, Victoria, serving Berwick, Cranbourne, Hallam and families across Melbourne's southeast. New students get a free trial lesson.