谁

Tap the pinyin to hear it

who; also pr. [shui2]

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

讠 meaning “speech” + 隹 sound ( zhuī )

Components 讠隹

who? · Heisig RSH #540

words + turkey

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
人谁无过	rén shéi wú guò	Everyone makes mistakes (idiom)
花落谁家	huā luò shéi jiā	who will be the winner?
谁人乐队	Shéi rén yuè duì	The Who (1960s UK rock band)
谁笑在最后，谁笑得最好	shéi xiào zài zuì hòu , shéi xiào dé zuì hǎo	He laughs best who laughs last.
谁笑到最后，谁笑得最好	shéi xiào dào zuì hòu , shéi xiào dé zuì hǎo	He laughs best who laughs last.
谁知道	shéi zhī dào	God knows...; Who would have imagined...?
鹿死谁手	lù sǐ shéi shǒu	lit. at whose hand will the deer die (idiom); fig. who will emerge victorious
没谁了	méi séi le	(coll.) nobody can beat that; extraordinary; remarkable
阿谁	ā shuí	who
谁知	shéi zhī	who would have thought; unexpectedly
谁料	shéi liào	who would have thought that; who would have expected that
爱谁谁	ài shéi shéi	(coll.) whatever; who cares
谁怕谁	shéi pà shéi	bring it on!; who's afraid?

Characters sharing the sound component 隹 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
隹 sound part	zhuī	short-tailed bird; sparrow
维	wéi	to preserve, to maintain, to hold together
推	tuī	to push; to expel; to drive; to decline
准	zhǔn	standard, accurate; to permit, to approve, to allow
堆	duī	crowd, heap, pile, mass; to pile up; measure word for things in piles or stacks
锥	zhuī	gimlet, drill, awl; to drill, to bore
淮	huái	a river in Anhui province
椎	zhuī	spine, vertebra; hammer, mallet
稚	zhì	young, immature; childhood
濯	zhuó	to cleanse, to rinse, to wash out
睢	suī	to gaze at, to stare at; uninhibited
帷	wéi	curtain, screen, tent
擢	zhuó	to pull up, to raise; to select
槜	zuì	white plum
骓	zhuī	piebald horse
碓	duì	pestle
萑	huán	grass, hay, straw