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肥沃 (féi wò) — fertile, rich (of soil or land)

Definition

肥沃 specifically describes land or soil that is rich and good for growing crops. Don't confuse it with 富有 ('rich' of people or resources) or 肥 ('fat', of animals/people).

adjective
fertilerich (of soil or land)

Examples

  • 肥沃，。
    Zhè piàn tǔ dì fēi cháng féi wò, shì hé zhǒng zhuāng jia.
    This land is very fertile, suitable for growing crops.
  • 肥沃。
    féi wò De tǔ rǎng ràng nóng mín měi nián dōu yǒu hǎo shōu cheng.
    Fertile soil allows farmers to have good harvests every year.
  • 肥沃。
    Tā men zhèng zài xiǎng bàn fǎ ràng shā mò biàn chéng féi wò de tián dì.
    They are trying to find ways to turn the desert into fertile fields.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

肥féifertile/fat
沃wòfertile/moist

肥 and 沃 both describe rich, moist soil, so together they mean fertile.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 肉肉ròumeat
  • 卪卪jiéperson kneeling

肥 is built from 肉, meat, and 卪, a kneeling person.

Open 肥 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
夭
夭yāo沃wò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

沃 combines 氵 (water) with 夭 giving the sound; the shape shows irrigating with water.

Open 沃 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Agriculture & FarmingGeography & Landforms

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