垦 (kěn): to reclaim (land), to cultivate

垦 (kěn) is a Chinese character meaning “to reclaim (land).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艮 (phonetic) and 土 (semantic). It ranks #2766 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 垦 earth. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 在 (zài, to exist), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 土 earth9 strokesFrequency #2766艮 phonetic 土 semantic

Definitions

to reclaim (land)
to cultivate

Etymology & Origin

垦

pictophoneticearth

Decomposition: ⿱艮土 (layout: top-bottom)

Components:艮phonetic 土semantic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 垦 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
开垦verb	kāi kěn	to clear a wild area for cultivation
垦荒verb	kěn huāng	to open up land (for agriculture)
垦丁国家公园	kěn dīng guó jiā gōng yuán	Kenting National Park on the Hengchun Peninsula 恆春半島\|恒春半岛, Pingtung county, south Taiwan
垦利区	kěn lì qū	Kenli, a district of Dongying City 東營市\|东营市, Shandong
海涂围垦	hǎi tú wéi kěn	tideland reclamation
垦利	kěn lì	see 墾利區\|垦利区
围垦verb	wéi kěn	to reclaim land by diking
垦丁proper-noun	kěn dīng	Kenting, a national park on the southern tip of Taiwan, popular as a tourist destination (abbr. for 墾丁國家公園\|垦丁国家公园[Ken...
垦殖verb	kěn zhí	to open up land for cultivation
垦耕	kěn gēng	to bring under cultivation (scrubland, marshland etc)
屯垦verb	tún kěn	to garrison troops to open up land

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

垦 appears in 11 compound words: 64 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 垦 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

农nóng

0.5662,318 co-occurrences

荒huāng

0.529836 co-occurrences

殖zhí

0.5211,108 co-occurrences

屯tún

0.495588 co-occurrences

围wéi

0.466918 co-occurrences

开kāi

0.4442,138 co-occurrences

耕gēng

0.427170 co-occurrences

稽jī

0.39978 co-occurrences

局jú

0.3961,052 co-occurrences

区qū

0.3871,514 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

春天到了，农民开始翻垦播种。

chūn tiān dào le , nóng mín kāi shǐ fān kěn bō zhǒng .

Spring has arrived, and farmers have begun tilling the land and sowing seeds.

IT之家Jul 2026

建造生产：让帕鲁协助建造基地、开垦农田、进行工业生产，自动化发展基地。

jiàn zào shēng chǎn : ràng pà lǔ xié zhù jiàn zào jī dì , kāi kěn nóng tián , jìn háng gōng yè shēng chǎn , zì dòng huà fā zhǎn jī dì .

Construction and Production: Have Paru assist with building the base, cultivating farmland, and carrying out industrial production to automate the base's development.

EttodayApr 2026

人潮涌现!垦丁大街“整条塞爆”现场画面曝网喊:国旅...

rén cháo chōng xiàn ! kěn dīng dà jiē zhěng tiáo sāi bào xiàn chǎng huà miàn pù wǎng hǎn : guó lǚ . . .

Crowds are pouring in! Footage shows Kenting Main Street "completely packed"—netizens exclaim: Domestic tourism...

三立新聞網Mar 2026

以国屯垦者袭巴人营地男惨遭束带勒私处

yǐ guó tún kěn zhě xí bā rén yíng dì nán cǎn zāo shù dài lè sī chǔ

State-run farm workers raid Ba people's camp; man brutally strangled with a belt around his genitals

马来西亚诗华日报新闻网Mar 2026

网传亚依淡垦殖区周边再现虎踪经核实为旧视频

wǎng chuán yà yī dàn kěn zhí qū zhōu biān zài xiàn hǔ zōng jīng hé shí wéi jiù shì pín

Online reports claim tiger sightings have resurfaced near the Ayer Itam Settlement; upon verification, the footage was found to be old.

RfiFeb 2026

以色列加速扩大西岸屯垦 18国批实质并吞

yǐ sè liè jiā sù kuò dà xī àn tún kěn 1 8 guó pī shí zhì bìng tūn

Israel accelerated the expansion of reclamation in the West Bank and approved the substantive annexation of 18 countries

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 垦 (kěn) mean in Chinese?

垦 (kěn) primarily means "to reclaim (land)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2766 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 垦 and 很?

垦 (kěn) and 很 (hěn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 土 vs 彳 (same 艮 component).

How many strokes does 垦 have?

垦 is written with 9 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 垦?

The radical associated with 垦 is 土 (earth). This radical appears in many characters related to earth.

What are the components of 垦?

垦 is composed of: 艮 (phonetic), 土 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艮土 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 垦?

Common words with 垦 include: 开垦 (kāi kěn, "to clear a wild area for cultivation"); 垦荒 (kěn huāng, "to open up land (for agriculture)"); 垦丁国家公园 (kěn dīng guó jiā gōng yuán, "Kenting National Park on the Hengchun Peninsula 恆春半島|恒春半岛, Pingtung county, south Taiwan"); 垦利区 (kěn lì qū, "Kenli, a district of Dongying City 東營市|东营市, Shandong"); 海涂围垦 (hǎi tú wéi kěn, "tideland reclamation"). There are over 11 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 垦 (kěn)?

Several characters share the pronunciation kěn: 恳 (earnest). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 垦 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 垦 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 垦 with real-time feedback

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