于
yū · HSK 6
to
📍 yū sounds like YOU — and you are always somewhere: in, at, to, from
You are always located somewhere. This character marks that spot or direction — the in, at, to, or from in a sentence.
于 — two horizontal strokes 二 + vertical hook 亅
于 originated as a pictograph of breath or sound flowing outward, depicting exhalation through a passage. In oracle bone script it resembled a curved line showing motion or extension. Over time it became a grammatical preposition meaning 'at,' 'in,' or 'to,' losing its original concrete sense.