存 (cún): to exist; to survive

Meanings

1 to exist; to survive
2 to deposit; to save (money)
3 to store; to keep

Characters

存

cún

to exist; to store; to save

Examples

HSK 2

我要去银行存钱。

Wǒ yào qù yínháng cún qián.

I'm going to the bank to deposit money.

HSK 3

这个文件存在电脑里。

Zhège wénjiàn cún zài diànnǎo lǐ.

This file is saved on the computer.

HSK 3

把行李存在这里吧。

Bǎ xíngli cún zài zhèlǐ ba.

Leave your luggage here.

Tips

usage

存钱 = deposit money; 取钱 = withdraw money. These are essential banking terms.

grammar

存 can combine with many words: 存款 (deposit/savings), 存储 (storage), 存活 (survive).

Components

radical

子 zǐ

child

Lower-right 子 is the child radical, originally a swaddled infant with arms outstretched. It supplies a strong semantic anchor: the survival and care of the young - to keep, preserve, save. From there 存 generalises to 'exist, store, deposit' (存在 exist, 存款 deposit, 保存 preserve). Joins 孔, 孙, 学 in the child radical family.

phonetic

才 cái

talent; just (here phonetic)

Upper-left 才 supplies the sound - cái shifted to cún, regular alternation in this Old Chinese series. 才 itself originally pictured a sapling pushing through the ground - beginning to exist. That 'come into being' image actually reinforces the meaning of 存 (exist, survive): something newly sprouted is something now present. Same series: 存, 在.