谷物 (gǔ wù) — grain; cereal | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

谷物 refers to cereal crops like wheat, rice, and corn — the plant seeds themselves, not the food made from them. Compared to 粮食, it stresses the raw agricultural product rather than staple food in general.

noun

graincereal

Measure word · 种

Examples

谷物。
Jīn nián gǔ wù de chǎn liàng hěn gāo.
This year's grain yield is very high.
谷物。
Tā měi tiān zǎo shàng chī yì wǎn gǔ wù.
He eats a bowl of cereal every morning.
谷物。
Cāng kù cún le hěn duō gǔ wù.
The warehouse stores a lot of grain.

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.

物wùproduct

谷 names grain, and 物 gives the general sense of a product, so the word means cereal or grain.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 谷 comes from a picture of a valley: an opening between two near-parallel lines for mountain walls.

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

牛勿物

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

勿

勿wù物wù

Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Grains & Staples

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