薪 meaning and stroke order
Fuel, firewood; salary
How to write 薪, stroke by stroke
16 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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Meaning of 薪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) firewood; fuel
- (bound form) salary
How 薪 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Freshly-cut 新 wood 艹; 新 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 薪
Grass or plants 艹 on top of 新 (xīn, new) gives freshly cut wood, which is firewood. Think of salary as the fuel that keeps your household fire burning. 新 also tells you the sound.
Today 薪 almost never stands alone. It appears in words about pay, such as 薪水 (xīnshui), 年薪 (niánxīn) and 加薪 (jiāxīn). Example: 老板给我加薪了。(Lǎobǎn gěi wǒ jiāxīn le.) My boss gave me a raise.
Common mistake: Learners often drop the 艹 and write 新 (xīn, new), since both have the same sound. In 薪水 and 加薪, remember that money takes the grass top.
Common words with 薪
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
薪 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 薪
How many strokes are in 薪?
薪 is written with 16 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 薪 mean?
薪 (xīn) means fuel, firewood; salary. A common word with it is 薪水 (xīnshui), meaning "salary; wage".
How do you pronounce 薪?
薪 is pronounced xīn, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 薪?
The radical of 薪 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 薪 under this radical.
Is 薪 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 薪 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 薪水 and 工资?
Both mean salary. 工资 (gōngzī) is the most common everyday word, often used for wages in general. 薪水 sounds a little more formal or office-oriented, and 薪资 and 薪酬 are used in HR and business writing.
Where does 薪 still mean firewood?
Mainly in idioms and literary phrases, such as 杯水车薪 (bēi shuǐ chē xīn), a cup of water on a cartload of burning firewood, meaning an effort far too small for the problem. Another is 釜底抽薪 (fǔ dǐ chōu xīn), to pull the firewood from under the pot, meaning to solve a problem at its root.