扔 (rēng): to throw; to toss

Meanings

1 to throw; to toss
2 to throw away; to discard

Characters

扔

rēng

to throw; to toss; to discard

Examples

把垃圾扔到垃圾桶里。

Bǎ lājī rēng dào lājītǒng lǐ.

Throw the trash in the trash can.

别乱扔东西。

Bié luàn rēng dōngxi.

Don't throw things around.

这件旧衣服可以扔了。

Zhè jiàn jiù yīfu kěyǐ rēng le.

This old piece of clothing can be thrown away.

他把球扔给了我。

Tā bǎ qiú rēng gěi le wǒ.

He threw the ball to me.

Tips

usage

扔 is the everyday word for both "throw" and "throw away." 扔垃圾 = throw away trash. 扔球 = throw a ball. Very versatile.

culture

With China's garbage sorting policy (垃圾分类), you can't just 乱扔 (throw randomly) anymore - you need to sort into recyclable, kitchen waste, harmful waste, and other waste.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side radical)

Left hand radical - three strokes, the compressed left-side form of 手. Anchors 扔 in the throwing-and-handling family alongside 拿 (take), 抛 (toss), 投 (cast), 摔 (hurl), 推 (push). Tells the reader: this character names something the hand does - here, an outward throwing motion.

phonetic

乃 nǎi

thus; namely (phonetic)

Right phonetic 乃 - supplies the sound (nǎi drifted to rēng, a heavy historical shift but recognisable in the related 仍). Originally a curved-breast pictograph repurposed for grammatical use. Two strokes, the simplest possible right-hand phonetic. Same phonetic in 仍 (still), 奶 (milk) - note 仍 is etymologically the closest relative to 扔.