菠 meaning and stroke order
Spinach
How to write 菠, stroke by stroke
11 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
Meaning of 菠
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- spinach
How 菠 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Plant.
艹 gives the meaning and 波 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 菠
The grass radical 艹 on top marks a plant, and 波 (bō, wave) below gives the sound. Picture leafy green plants rippling like waves in a vegetable field.
菠 almost never appears alone. You will see it in two everyday food words: 菠菜 (bōcài, spinach) and 菠萝 (bōluó, pineapple). Example: 我不喜欢吃菠菜。(Wǒ bù xǐhuan chī bōcài.) I don't like eating spinach.
Common mistake: Learners often leave off the 艹 on top and write 波 (bō, wave), which has the same sound but means wave. If the word is a food, it needs the grass radical.
Common words with 菠
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
菠 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 菠
How many strokes are in 菠?
菠 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 菠 mean?
菠 (bō) means spinach. A common word with it is 菠萝 (bōluó), meaning "pineapple".
How do you pronounce 菠?
菠 is pronounced bō, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 菠?
The radical of 菠 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 菠 under this radical.
Why does 菠 appear in both spinach and pineapple?
In these words 菠 is mainly used for its sound, with 艹 showing it is a plant. 菠菜 is spinach and 菠萝 is pineapple, so the second character tells you which one is meant.
Is 菠萝 the same as 凤梨 (fènglí)?
Both mean pineapple. 菠萝 is the common word in mainland China, while 凤梨 is more common in Taiwan, where some people use it for slightly different varieties.