泼 (pō) · to splash; to spill; to throw (liquid)

Meanings

1 to splash; to spill; to throw (liquid)
2 rough and coarse; bold (of personality)

Characters

泼

pō

to splash; to sprinkle

Examples

HSK 3

别把水泼到地上。

Bié bǎ shuǐ pō dào dìshàng.

Don't splash water on the floor.

HSK 3

她生气时把一杯水泼在他脸上。

Tā shēngqì shí bǎ yī bēi shuǐ pō zài tā liǎnshàng.

When she got angry, she splashed a cup of water in his face.

HSK 4

这个女孩很泼辣。

Zhège nǚhái hěn pōla.

This girl is very bold/feisty.

Tips

usage

泼辣 (pōla) describes a bold, assertive, and outspoken personality - often used for women, and can be positive (capable and tough) or negative (brash).

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Three-drop water radical, the side form of 水. Anchors 泼 in the liquid family alongside 洒 (sprinkle), 浇 (pour), 流 (flow). The radical does most of the meaning work here - ‘splash, dash water’ - while the right side carries the sound.

phonetic

发 fā

to send out; emit

Right side 发 supplies the sound (fā → pō, a shift but the labial stays). Faintly semantic too: 发 means ‘to send out, emit’, and 泼 is water sent out forcefully. Same phonetic family includes 拨 (bō, push aside) and 钵 (bō, alms-bowl). Simplified 发 replaces the traditional 發 phonetic in 潑.