婆 (pó): grandmother
婆 (pó) is a Chinese character meaning “grandmother.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 波 (phonetic) and 女 (semantic). It ranks #1339 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 婆 woman. Its radical form 女 (woman) appears in many related characters such as 女 (nǚ, woman), 奶 (nǎi, grandmother, milk), 她 (tā, she).
Definitions
- grandmother
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 婆
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 巫婆noun | wū pó | witch |
| 婆婆noun | pó po | husband's mother |
| 老太婆noun | lǎo tài pó | old woman (at times contemptuous) |
| 婆娘noun | pó niang | (dialect) wife |
| 婆婆妈妈adjective | pó po mā mā | effeminate |
| 婆家noun | pó jiā | husband's family (traditionally where the wife moves into) |
| 姑婆noun | gū pó | grandfather's sister |
| 姨婆noun | yí pó | (strictly speaking) sister of one's maternal grandmother |
| 小老婆noun | xiǎo lǎo pó | concubine |
| 管家婆noun | guǎn jiā pó | housewife (jocular) |
| 公婆noun | gōng pó | husband's parents |
| 阿婆noun | ā pó | granny |
| 婆罗洲proper-noun | pó luó zhōu | Borneo island (of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei) |
| 苦口婆心phrase | kǔ kǒu pó xīn | earnest and well-meaning advice (idiom) |
| 媒婆noun | méi pó | female matchmaker |
婆 appears in 67 compound words: 19 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 24 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 婆 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
overly careful (like an old woman); womanishly garrulous; irresolute; sentimental; maudlin; fainthearted
overly careful (like an old woman); womanishly garrulous; irresolute; sentimental; maudlin; fainthearted
Example Sentences
外婆做的红烧肉特别好吃，是我最喜欢的菜。
Wàipó zuò de hóngshāoròu tèbié hǎochī, shì wǒ zuì xǐhuan de cài.
Grandma's braised pork is especially delicious; it's my favorite dish.
53岁女星离婚“消失20年”摇身东京包租婆“拥3间房”
5 3 suì nǚ xīng lí hūn xiāo shī 2 0 nián yáo shēn dōng jīng bāo zū pó yōng 3 jiān fáng
The 53-year-old actress divorced and "disappeared for 20 years" and turned into a Tokyo charter woman "with 3 rooms"
婆罗洲会展中心外严重车祸 两罗厘猛撞2人重...
pó luó zhōu huì zhǎn zhōng xīn wài yán chóng chē huò liǎng luó lí měng zhuàng rén chóng . . .
Severe Traffic Accident Outside Borneo Convention Centre: Two Lorries Collide, Two Seriously Injured...
公屋阿婆走廊水管玩吊單槓!住戶恐壓爆制止遭罵 網...
gōng wū ā pó zǒu láng shuǐ guǎn wán diào 單 槓 ! zhù 戶 kǒng 壓 bào zhì zhǐ zāo 罵 網 . . .
Public housing resident performs pull-ups on corridor water pipe! Residents fear collapse and try to stop her, only to be scolded...
冬奧—谷愛凌奪金後得悉外婆離世 記者會上哭說「昨晚才夢到她」
dōng 奧 gǔ 愛 líng 奪 jīn 後 dé xī wài pó 離 shì 記 zhě 會 shàng kū 說 zuó wǎn cái 夢 dào tā
Winter Olympics - After winning the gold medal, Gu Ailing cried at the press conference and said "I dreamt of her last night".
茶香氤氲,温情暖暖~看阿婆爷叔如何解锁“行云流水”..
chá xiāng 氤 氲 , wēn qíng nuǎn nuǎn kàn ā pó yé shū rú hé jiě suǒ háng yún liú shuǐ . .
The aroma of tea fills the air, warmth and affection abound~ Watch as the grandmothers and uncles unlock the art of "flowing like clouds and water"...
汤姆去波士顿陪外公外婆过圣诞节。
Tāngmǔ qù Bōshìdùn péi wàigōng wàipó guo Shèngdànjié.
Tom went to Boston to spend Christmas with his grandparents.
老婆怀孕没了性欲我该怎么办？
Lǎopó huáiyùn méile xìngyù wǒ gāi zěnmebàn?
My wife has no libido since she got pregnant. What can I do?
她才是真正的巫婆！
Tā cái shì zhēnzhèng de wūpó!
She is a true witch!
我外婆患有骨质疏松症。
Wǒ wàipó huànyǒu gǔzhìshūsōngzhèng.
My grandmother suffers from osteoporosis.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 婆 (pó) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 婆 and 菠?
How many strokes does 婆 have?
What is the radical of 婆?
What are the components of 婆?
What are common words containing 婆?
What characters sound the same as 婆 (pó)?
Is 婆 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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