种 (zhòng) · to plant

Meanings

1 to plant
2 to grow; to cultivate
3 to sow (seeds)
4 to inoculate; to vaccinate

Characters

Same character and components as the noun reading; only the tone and grammatical role differ. Grain radical 禾 keeps the agricultural sense, but here the action - putting the seed into the ground - is foregrounded.

Examples

HSK 5

爷爷在院子里种了一棵桃树。

Yéye zài yuànzi lǐ zhòng le yī kē táoshù.

Grandpa planted a peach tree in the yard.

HSK 5

我在阳台上种了一些蔬菜。

Wǒ zài yángtái shang zhòng le yìxiē shūcài.

I planted some vegetables on the balcony.

HSK 7-9

小孩要按时接种疫苗。

Xiǎohái yào ànshí jiēzhòng yìmiáo.

Children need to get vaccinated on schedule.

Tips

usage

Fourth-tone 种 is the verb 'to plant'. Almost always takes a plant or crop as its object: 种田 (work fields), 种地 (work the land), 种树 (plant trees), 种花 (grow flowers), 种菜 (grow vegetables). The medical sense - 接种 (vaccinate), 种牙 (get a dental implant) - extends the same metaphor: you 'plant' a vaccine or an implant into the body.

memory

Mnemonic for the tone split: the seed sits still and gets COUNTED - zhǒng (3rd tone, the dipping tone that pauses). The farmer ACTS and pushes the seed into the ground - zhòng (4th tone, the sharp falling tone of effort). Noun pauses, verb strikes.

Components

radical

禾 hé

grain; cereal

Left indexing grain radical 禾 - pictograph of a stalk of grain bent under its ripe head. Anchors 种 in the agriculture family alongside 稻 (rice), 秋 (autumn, the harvest season), 秒 (second, originally a tiny grain), 科 (category). Seeds and species both come down to grain in classical thought.

phonetic

中 zhōng

middle (here phonetic)

Right 中 supplies the sound (zhōng to zhǒng with tone shift). 中 itself depicts a banner pierced through the center, lending a faint sense of 'core, essence' - the seed at the heart of the grain. Pure phonetic in modern 种; same family: 钟 (bell), 仲 (middle brother), 忠 (loyal, middle of the heart).