chéng
verb #5,224

Meanings

  1. 1 to present; to submit
  2. 2 to show; to display; to assume (a form)

Examples

Shùyè chéng lǜsè.
The leaves are green (display a green color).
Qǐng bǎ bàogào chéng shànglái.
Please submit the report.
Zhè zuò chéngshì chéngxiàn chū xīn miànmào.
The city shows a new appearance.

Tips

usage
is formal. 呈现 (chéngxiàn, to present/display) is more common in modern Chinese. alone meaning 'to submit' appears in official/bureaucratic contexts.

Components

radical
kǒu
mouth
Mouth on top — the indexing radical. Points to the verbal-act sense: presenting a report or making a formal declaration was originally a spoken submission to a superior. The radical groups with other speech-act characters (, , , 呼吁).
phonetic
wáng
king (here phonetic, historically 壬)
Bottom looks like (king) in modern shape, but historically derives from (rén, 9th heavenly stem). Supplies the sound: rén → chéng with substantial Old Chinese drift. Same phonetic in chéng (procedure), tíng (court), tíng (courtyard) — all share the chéng/tíng cluster.

Stroke Order

chéng