Meaning
earth; dust
Chinese: 泥土、土地，也表示本地或朴素。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “tu” becomes a different word in each tone. 土 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 土地tǔ dìland; soil; territory
- 土豆tǔ dòupotato; (Tw) peanut (
- 本土běn tǔone's native country; native; local; metropolitan territory
- 领土lǐng tǔterritory
- 土壤tǔ rǎngsoil
Example Sentence
种子在土里慢慢发芽。Zhǒng zi zài tǔ lǐ màn màn fā yá.The seed slowly sprouts in the soil.
种子Zhǒng ziseed在zàiat土tǔTu ethnic group里lǐinside慢慢màn mànslowly发芽fā yá(of a seed) to germinate。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of a mound of earth resting on the ground line. It means ‘earth / soil’ and is the radical in 地, 场, 坐.
A way to remember it
A lump of soil sitting on the ground — the lower line is the earth.
Easy to confuse with
- 士‘Scholar / gentleman’: like 土 but the top line is the longer one.