shǔ
mouse; rat
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老鼠在洞里。
lǎoshǔ zài dòng lǐ.
The mouse is in the hole.
猫捉老鼠。
māo zhuō lǎoshǔ.
The cat is catching the mouse.
老鼠偷吃了我的奶酪。
lǎoshǔ tōu chīle wǒ de nǎilào.
The mouse stole my cheese.
老鼠 (lǎoshǔ)
mouse
耗子 (hàozǐ)
rat
牛 (niú)
ox
虎 (hǔ)
tiger
The Chinese character 鼠 (shǔ) for "rat" is a pictograph that depicts a rat's head and body. The character is composed of two parts: the upper part is the radical 豸 (zhì), which represents animals with four legs, and the lower part is the phonetic component 厶 (sī), which represents the sound [s]. The character 鼠 has been in use for over 3,000 years and has remained largely unchanged in its form and meaning. It is one of the most common Chinese characters and is used in a variety of words and phrases related to rats, such as 老鼠 (lǎoshǔ, "mouse"), 鼠疫 (shǔyì, "plague"), and 鼠目寸光 (shǔmùcùnguāng, "short-sighted").
