泽 (zé): marsh; swamp; wetland

Meanings

1 marsh; swamp; wetland
2 luster; sheen; gloss
3 grace; favor; kindness
4 to moisten; to enrich

Characters

泽

zé

marsh; beneficence; luster

Examples

HSK 2

恩泽百姓。

Ēnzé bǎixìng.

To bestow grace upon the people.

HSK 3

他的头发很有光泽。

Tā de tóufa hěn yǒu guāngzé.

His hair has a nice sheen.

HSK 4

这片湖泽风景优美。

Zhè piàn hú zé fēngjǐng yōuměi.

This lake and marshland has beautiful scenery.

Tips

usage

泽 rarely appears alone in modern Chinese. It's most common in compounds: 光泽 (luster), 沼泽 (swamp), 润泽 (moist), or in names.

memory

The water radical 氵 plus 择 (choose) - where water chooses to gather, a marsh forms.

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Three-drops water radical on the left - the side-form of 水. Indexes 泽 in the water family with 河 river, 湖 lake, 海 sea. 泽 specifically names a marsh or shallow pond where water gathers and gives life - and metaphorically a 'beneficial influence,' as in 恩泽 grace, 润泽 to moisten.

phonetic

圣 shèng

simplified residue (fused from traditional 睪)

Right side is the heavily simplified replacement for traditional 睪 - five strokes here, no longer analysable into independent pieces. The PRC 1956 reform reused this same residue across a phonetic family: 泽 zé, 译 yì translate, 释 shì release, 择 zé choose. Recognise the shape as a sound group, not as 'sacred 圣.'