What does 根 mean in Chinese?

根 (gēn) means "root, basis" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 3.

How do you write 根?

根 is written with 10 strokes, starting from the 木 (tree) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 根?

The radical of 根 is 木 (tree, Kangxi radical #75). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 本, 来, 机, 果.

How many strokes does 根 have?

The Chinese character 根 has 10 strokes.

What HSK level is 根?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 根 is a character to recognise at HSK 3.

根 (gēn): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

根

gēn

root, basis

HSK 3 character 10 strokes Radical: 木 (tree)

Quick Answer

根 (gēn) means "root, basis" with 10 strokes, radical 木 (tree), HSK 3 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 根 →Animated stroke-order for 根 →

Pronunciation

gēn

Meaning

Primary: root

Other meanings:

basis

Etymology

The stubborn part of a tree — root

Mnemonic hooks the visual decomposition to a memorable image. The full oracle-bone to modern evolution is being added character-by-character via the Phase 13 etymology pass.

Decomposition

根=木radical+艮component

Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.

Basic info

Pinyin	gēn
Meanings	root, basis
Stroke count	10 strokes
Radical	木 (#75: tree)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 3
Frequency	#206 most common

Example sentences

根据天气预报，明天会下雨。
Gēnjù tiānqì yùbào, míngtiān huì xià yǔ.
According to the weather forecast, it will rain tomorrow.
From 根据 (HSK 3)
他根本不懂这个问题。
Tā gēnběn bù dǒng zhège wèntí.
He doesn't understand this issue at all.
From 根本 (HSK 5)
要想解决问题就必须找到问题的根本原因。
Yào xiǎng jiějué wèntí jiù bìxū zhǎodào wèntí de gēnběn yuányīn.
To solve a problem, one must find the root cause of the problem.
From 根 (HSK 5)

Words containing 根

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
根据	gēnjù	according to	HSK 3
根本	gēnběn	at all	HSK 5
根	gēn	root	HSK 5
根底	gēndǐ	foundation, grounding
根基	gēnjī	foundation, base	HSK 7-9
根深蒂固	gēnshēndìgù	deep-rooted	HSK 7-9
根源	gēnyuán	origin, root cause	HSK 7-9