种 (zhǒng) · kind; type; sort; variety

Meanings

1 kind; type; sort; variety
2 species
3 seed
4 classifier for kinds, types, sorts

Characters

种

zhǒng

kind; type; seed

Grain radical 禾 on the left ties 种 to seeds and crops; right side 中 supplies the sound.

Examples

HSK 3

一共有几种选择？

Yígòng yǒu jǐ zhǒng xuǎnzé?

How many options are there in total?

HSK 4

这种水果我从来没见过。

Zhè zhǒng shuǐguǒ wǒ cónglái méi jiàn guò.

I've never seen this kind of fruit before.

HSK 4

把这些种子留到明年。

Bǎ zhèxiē zhǒngzi liú dào míngnián.

Save these seeds for next year.

Tips

grammar

Two readings split by tone and role. Third-tone 种 (this entry) is a NOUN - 'kind, type, species, seed' - and a measure-word classifier (这种, 那种, 各种, 几种). Fourth-tone 种 is a VERB - 'to plant, to grow, to cultivate' - and lives in 种田, 种菜, 种花, 种树, 种植, 接种. Quick rule: if it counts or names a kind, it's zhǒng; if it's an action you do to a plant or a vaccine, it's zhòng.

usage

As a classifier, 种 counts categories rather than physical items: 三种颜色 ('three kinds of color') vs 三个颜色 ('three specific colors'). Use it whenever the count is over varieties, options, methods, or species, not over individual objects.

Components

radical

禾 hé

grain; cereal

Left indexing grain radical 禾 - pictograph of a stalk of grain bent under its ripe head. Anchors 种 in the agriculture family alongside 稻 (rice), 秋 (autumn, the harvest season), 秒 (second, originally a tiny grain), 科 (category). Seeds and species both come down to grain in classical thought.

phonetic

中 zhōng

middle (here phonetic)

Right 中 supplies the sound (zhōng to zhǒng with tone shift). 中 itself depicts a banner pierced through the center, lending a faint sense of 'core, essence' - the seed at the heart of the grain. Pure phonetic in modern 种; same family: 钟 (bell), 仲 (middle brother), 忠 (loyal, middle of the heart).