chu / ちゅ
The middle CH combined kana — ち plus a small ゅ becomes 'chu', a single syllable. Anchors caution, China, lunch, and ordering at restaurants.
Pronunciation
The compound character ちゅ represents the syllable 'chu', formed by combining ち (chi) with a small ゅ. It is pronounced as a single syllable 'chu' (like the 'chu' in 'chew').
ちゅ is ち (chi) plus a small ゅ (yu). Together they make a single syllable /chu/ — sounding exactly like English "chew". It anchors 注意 (chuui, "caution"), 中国 (chuugoku, "China"), 注文 (chuumon, "order" at a restaurant), 中学校 (chuugakkou, "middle school"), 駐車 (chuusha, "parking"), 昼食 (chuushoku, "lunch"), and the cute Japanese onomatopoeia for a kiss: ちゅ.
How to write ちゅ
Trace ちゅ on the canvas at the top of the page. Animated arrows show each stroke's direction; trace along them and the stroke fills in. Each numbered step below explains what that stroke does.
Write ち exactly: two strokes.
Write a small ゅ next to ち. Stroke 3 is the small looping body (a tiny tear-drop); stroke 4 is the horizontal anchor crossing through it. Keep ゅ at roughly half the height of ち.
Origin
ちゅ is the written combination of ち (from 知, chi) and a small ゆ (from 由, yu). The palatalized /chu/ sound shows up across many Sino-Japanese compounds — especially anything related to "middle" (中) and "attention / pouring" (注).
Common words starting with ちゅ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ちゅ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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