水 (shuǐ) · water

Meanings

1 water

Characters

水

shuǐ

water; liquid

Examples

HSK 1

我要喝水。

Wǒ yào hē shuǐ.

I want to drink water.

HSK 1

请给我一杯水。

Qǐng gěi wǒ yì bēi shuǐ.

Please give me a glass of water.

HSK 2

多喝水对身体好。

Duō hē shuǐ duì shēntǐ hǎo.

Drinking more water is good for your health.

Tips

culture

In China, people typically drink hot water (热水) rather than cold water. If you ask for water at a restaurant, you'll likely get hot water unless you specify 冷水.

memory

The character 水 is a pictograph that originated from a drawing of flowing water. It's also the radical 氵 (three dots of water) that appears in many water-related characters like 河 (river), 海 (sea), 洗 (wash).

Components

pictograph

水 shuǐ

water

Pictograph of flowing water - a central streamline with droplets curling off to either side. The oracle-bone form was even more literal: a wavy line with splash-marks. 水 is Kangxi radical 85 and parent of the 氵 left-side form that appears in hundreds of liquid/river chars (河, 海, 江, 流).

Radical

Water Kangxi #85

Pictograph of a flowing stream with droplets on either side. The most productive of the natural-element radicals, and a strong clue that a character involves liquid, rivers, washing, or wetness. Appears as 氵 (three drops) on the left of hundreds of characters: 河, 海, 江, 流, 洗, 油, 汗. The bottom variant 氺 sits under characters like 泰 and 黎.