受 (shòu): to receive

Meanings

1 to receive
2 to bear
3 to suffer

Characters

受

shòu

to receive; to bear; to suffer

Examples

他受到了大家的欢迎。

Tā shòudào le dàjiā de huānyíng.

He received everyone's welcome.

我受不了这种痛苦。

Wǒ shòubuliǎo zhèzhǒng tòngkǔ.

I can't bear this kind of pain.

她受了很多苦。

Tā shòu le hěnduō kǔ.

She has suffered a lot.

Tips

grammar

受 is a key passive marker: 受到 (to receive), 受不了 (cannot bear), 受害 (to be harmed). It combines with many words: 受伤 (get injured), 受骗 (be deceived), 受苦 (suffer hardship).

usage

受不了 is a very common spoken expression meaning 'I can't stand it!' or 'It's unbearable!'

Components

radical

又 yòu

right hand; again

Bottom right hand — also the indexing radical (Kangxi #29). Pictures a hand reaching up to grasp what falls from above. Same radical anchors 友, 取, 反, 双 — characters built around hands. The full picture of 受 is two hands transferring an object: one giving, one receiving.

semantic

爫 zhǎo

claw; downward hand (top variant)

Top 爫 — the downward-grasping hand variant of 爪. Pictures a hand reaching down from above, fingers curled to grip. Same component anchors 爱, 受, 采, 妥 — characters about taking, choosing, embracing. Here the upper hand is the giver passing something down.

semantic

冖 mì

cover; lid

Middle cover-shape — originally this slot held 舟 (a boat) being passed between hands; over time the boat flattened into a horizontal cover. The stroke depicts the object being transferred from the hand above to the hand below. Indexed under Kangxi #29 又 (yòu, right hand) — the receiving hand at the base.