荷 (hè) · to carry on the shoulder or back

Meanings

1 to carry on the shoulder or back
2 burden; load
3 electric charge

Characters

荷

hè

to carry on the shoulder or back

Examples

HSK 7-9

这座桥承受不了这么大的负荷。

Zhè zuò qiáo chéngshòu buliǎo zhème dà de fùhè.

The bridge cannot bear such a heavy load.

HSK 7-9

电子带负电荷。

Diànzǐ dài fù diànhè.

Electrons carry a negative electric charge.

Tips

usage

The hè reading means 'to carry' or 'a load': 负荷 (load), 超负荷 (overloaded), 荷枪实弹 (armed with loaded weapons). In physics it is the 'charge' of 电荷. The lotus and the Netherlands senses use the separate reading hé.

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass (radical form)

Top grass radical, the indexing radical, declaring the character a plant. The lotus is an aquatic herb, properly grouped under 艹. The same radical anchors 花 (flower), 草 (grass), 莲 (also lotus), and 菊 (chrysanthemum).

phonetic

何 hé

what; which (here phonetic)

Below the grass, 何 supplies the sound (hé, an exact match). 何 originally pictured a person carrying a load on the shoulder, which is also the source of the secondary reading hè 'to carry'. The phonetic doubles as a faint semantic for that 'bear / carry' sense. Same family: 河, 苛, 柯.