泼 (pō): to splash; to spill; to throw (…

Meanings

1 to splash; to spill; to throw (liquid)
2 rough and coarse; bold (of personality)

Characters

泼

pō

to splash; to sprinkle

Examples

别把水泼到地上。

Bié bǎ shuǐ pō dào dìshàng.

Don't splash water on the floor.

她生气时把一杯水泼在他脸上。

Tā shēngqì shí bǎ yī bēi shuǐ pō zài tā liǎnshàng.

When she got angry, she splashed a cup of water in his face.

这个女孩很泼辣。

Zhège nǚhái hěn pōla.

This girl is very bold/feisty.

Tips

usage

泼辣 (pōla) describes a bold, assertive, and outspoken personality — often used for women, and can be positive (capable and tough) or negative (brash).

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Three-drop water radical, the side form of 水. Anchors 泼 in the liquid family alongside 洒 (sprinkle), 浇 (pour), 流 (flow). The radical does most of the meaning work here — 'splash, dash water' — while the right side carries the sound.

phonetic

发 fā

to send out; emit

Right side 发 supplies the sound (fā → pō, a shift but the labial stays). Faintly semantic too: 发 means 'to send out, emit', and 泼 is water sent out forcefully. Same phonetic family includes 拨 (bō, push aside) and 钵 (bō, alms-bowl). Simplified 发 replaces the traditional 發 phonetic in 潑.