草 (cǎo): grass; straw

Meanings

1 grass; straw
2 draft; rough

Characters

草

cǎo

grass; straw; draft

Grass radical 艹 + 早 (early) — plants that appear early in spring

Examples

公园里的草很绿。

Gōngyuán lǐ de cǎo hěn lǜ.

The grass in the park is very green.

请勿踩草地。

Qǐng wù cǎi cǎodì.

Please do not step on the grass.

Tips

usage

The grass radical (艹) on top of characters usually indicates a plant connection: 花 (flower), 茶 (tea), 药 (medicine), 菜 (vegetable), 蓝 (blue — originally from a plant dye).

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass (radical form)

Top grass radical — the indexing component, the 3-stroke compressed form of 艸. Marks 草 as a plant. Note that 草 has itself become the standalone form for the grass concept; the radical does the semantic work, while 早 below carries sound. Same anchor in 花, 茶, 菜.

phonetic

早 zǎo

early; morning

Bottom 早 supplies the sound — cǎo drifted from zǎo through initial alternation (both share an Old Chinese rime). May also hint that grasses appear early in the spring season, but the role is principally phonetic. Same right side in 嘈 (cáo, noisy), 漕 (cáo, transport).