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水稻 (shuǐ dào) — paddy rice; rice (as a plant growing in the field)

Definition

水稻 (shuǐdào) is the plant itself — rice growing in paddy fields. 大米 is the husked grain you buy to cook; 米饭 is what you eat at the table.

noun
paddy ricerice (as a plant growing in the field)
Measure word · 株

Examples

  • 水稻。
    Nóng mín zài tián lǐ zhǒng le hěn duō shuǐ dào.
    The farmers planted a lot of rice in the fields.
  • 水稻，。
    Zhè piàn shuǐ dào cháng dé fēi cháng hǎo, jīn nián shōu cheng bú cuò.
    This area of rice is growing very well, so the harvest will be good this year.
  • 水稻。
    Zhè yì zhū shuǐ dào bǐ qí tā de dōu gāo.
    This stalk of rice is taller than all the others.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

水shuǐwater
稻dàorice plant

“水” and “稻” combine to name the rice plant grown in paddies.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hégrain, cereal, rice
Sound part声符shēngfú
舀
舀yǎo稻dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

稻 uses 禾, the grain plant, to show its meaning, and 舀 for its sound.

Open 稻 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

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