草 meaning and stroke order
Grass; straw; manuscript
How to write 草, stroke by stroke
9 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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- 9
Meaning of 草
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- grass
- straw
- manuscript
- draft (of a document)
- careless
- rough
- variant of 肏[cao4]
How 草 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Grass.
艹 gives the meaning and 早 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 草
草 is pictophonetic: the grass radical 艹 on top gives the meaning, and 早 (zǎo, early) below hints at the sound. Picture grass sprouting early in the morning.
草 means grass or plants in words like 草地 (cǎodì, lawn) and 草原 (cǎoyuán, grassland). It also means rough or draft, as in 起草 (qǐcǎo, to draft) and 潦草 (liáocǎo, sloppy). Example: 请不要踩草地。(Qǐng bú yào cǎi cǎodì.) Please keep off the grass.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 草 (cǎo) with 早 (zǎo, early), since 早 is inside it. Remember that grass needs the 艹 on top, and the tone of 草 is third tone, the same as 早.
Common words with 草
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 草地 | cǎodì | lawn; meadow | HSK 2 |
| 草原 | cǎoyuán | grassland; prairie | HSK 5 |
| 草坪 | cǎopíng | lawn | HSK 7-9 |
| 起草 | qǐcǎo | to make a draft; to draw up (plans) | HSK 7-9 |
| 稻草 | dàocǎo | rice straw | HSK 7-9 |
| 草案 | cǎo'àn | draft (legislation, proposal etc) | HSK 7-9 |
| 斩草除根 | zhǎncǎo-chúgēn | to cut weeds and eliminate the roots (idiom); to destroy root and branch; to eliminate com | HSK 7-9 |
| 潦草 | liáocǎo | slipshod; careless; slovenly; (of handwriting) scrawly; illegible | HSK 7-9 |
| 奇花异草 | qíhuā-yìcǎo | (idiom) rare or exotic flowers and plants | HSK 7-9 |
| 草莓 | cǎoméi | strawberry; (Tw) hickey | |
| 香草 | xiāngcǎo | aromatic herb; vanilla | |
| 烟草 | yāncǎo | tobacco | |
| 杂草 | zácǎo | weeds | |
| 稻草人 | dàocǎorén | scarecrow |
草 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 草
How many strokes are in 草?
草 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 草 mean?
草 (cǎo) means grass; straw; manuscript. A common word with it is 草地 (cǎodì), meaning "lawn; meadow".
How do you pronounce 草?
草 is pronounced cǎo, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 草?
The radical of 草 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 草 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 草?
The traditional form of 草 is 艸. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 草 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 草 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 草 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
Why does 草 also mean draft or careless?
From the idea of something rough and unfinished, 草 came to mean a rough version. That is why 草案 (cǎo'àn) is a draft proposal and 潦草 (liáocǎo) describes messy handwriting.
Is 草 ever a rude word?
Yes. Read as cào, it can stand in for the vulgar 肏, a swear word. In everyday words like 草地 it is always cǎo and completely neutral.