草地 (cǎo dì) — lawn; meadow; grassland

Definition

A patch of grass — a lawn or meadow. Use 草坪 for a maintained lawn (e.g. in a park), and 草原 for open natural grassland or prairie.

noun

lawnmeadowgrassland

Measure word · 片

草地。
Zhè piàn cǎo dì hěn dà.
This lawn is very large.
草地。
Hái zi men zài cǎo dì shàng wán.
The children are playing on the lawn.
草地。
Nà lǐ yǒu yí piàn lǜ sè de cǎo dì.
There is a patch of green grass over there.

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.

草 points to grass and 地 to ground, so the word names a grassy ground.

Characters in this word

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

艹早草

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

早

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

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

土也地

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

也

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Appears in