chá

tea

Type: NounsHSK 1
Character origin

It comes from simplifying 荼 (tú), a bitter plant. It's built from the radical 艹 (grass) over a lower part that once held the phonetic 余. Dropping one stroke created 茶 specifically for the tea plant.

Did you know?

The Chinese tea ceremony (功夫茶) uses tiny vessels and several infusions. Drinking hot tea is a daily habit, even in summer, as it's believed to help regulate body temperature.

Radicals it's made of
cǎoplant
rénperson
tree
Example sentence

我要一杯茶。

Wǒ yào yī bēi chá.

I want a cup of tea.

Want to take it further?

This list will always be here whenever you need it. And when you feel like really practising and making the words stick, the HSK 1 Lan app has everything you need:

  • 90 radicals explained
  • The full HSK1 vocabulary
  • 150 practice phrases
  • Pronunciation audio
  • Animated stroke order
Download free

← Back to the full HSK 1 word list