鹄 (hú) — pinyin, meaning & stroke order

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

鸟 meaning “bird” + 告 sound ( gào )

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
燕雀安知鸿鹄之志	yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì	lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom); fig. how can we…
燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志	yàn què yān zhī hóng gǔ zhī zhì	lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom); fig. how can we…
白鹄	bái hú	(white) swan
鹄的	gǔ dì	bull's-eye; target; objective
鹄候	hú hòu	to respectfully await; to look forward to
刻鹄类鹜	kè hú lèi wù	to aim to carve a swan and get a semblance of a duck (idiom); to fail utterly in trying to…
鸿鹄	hóng hú	swan; person with noble aspirations

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
告 sound part	gào	to tell, to inform, to announce; to accuse
造	zào	to build, to construct, to invent, to manufacture
靠	kào	nearby; to depend on, to lean on, to trust
浩	hào	great, grand, vast
酷	kù	strong, stimulating; ruthless, intense
皓	hào	bright, luminous; clear; hoary
窖	jiào	cellar, storeroom
锆	gào	zirconium
梏	gù	handcuffs, manacles; fetters
牿	gù	cattle shed
郜	gào	a feudal state in Shantong; surname

Easy to mix up — compare them side by side.

Same sound hú

Same radical 鳥