土 (tǔ) · earth; soil

Meanings

1 earth; soil
2 local; native
3 unsophisticated; rustic

Characters

土

tǔ

earth; soil

A pictograph of a mound of earth - one of the most basic radicals in Chinese.

Examples

HSK 2

他穿得很土。

Tā chuān de hěn tǔ.

He dresses in an unsophisticated way.

HSK 5

土豆是一种很常见的蔬菜。

Tǔdòu shì yì zhǒng hěn chángjiàn de shūcài.

Potatoes are a very common vegetable.

HSK 6

这里的土很肥沃。

Zhèlǐ de tǔ hěn féiwò.

The soil here is very fertile.

Tips

usage

土 as an adjective means 'rustic' or 'uncool' (opposite of 洋, foreign/fashionable). 很土 is a mild insult meaning 'tacky' or 'behind the times.'

usage

Common compounds: 土豆 (potato), 土地 (land), 土壤 (soil), 本土 (native/local).

Components

pictograph

土 tǔ

earth; soil

Pictograph of a small mound of earth resting on the ground line - earth, that which brings forth all things. Distinguished from 士 (scholar) only by stroke length: in 土 the bottom horizontal is longer; in 士 the top is longer. Kangxi radical #32 and one of the most productive components: 地, 场, 城, 坐, 块, 堂, 墙, 基, 圾.

Radical

Earth Kangxi #32

Highly productive radical. A reliable semantic clue for soil, ground, structures, and place names: 地, 场, 城, 坐, 块, 坏, 堂, 增, 墙. Sits on the left in most compounds and signals that the word names something built on or made of earth.