树 (shù): tree

树 (shù) is a Chinese character meaning “tree.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 对 (phonetic). It ranks #697 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 树 tree. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. tree

Etymology & Origin

树

pictophonetictree

Decomposition: ⿰木对 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 树

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
树林nounshù línwoods4
树木nounshù mùtree5
树立verbshù lìto set up6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
圣诞树nounshèng dàn shùChristmas tree
树枝nounshù zhībranch
树叶nounshù yètree leaves
树丛nounshù cóngthicket
橡树nounxiàng shùoak
松树nounsōng shùpine
树脂nounshù zhīresin
树敌verbshù díto antagonize people
摇钱树nounyáo qián shùlegendary tree that sheds coins when shaken
树桩nounshù zhuāngtree stump
树干nounshù gàntree trunk
柳树nounliǔ shùwillow
枫树nounfēng shùmaple
榆树nounyú shùelm
树根nounshù gēntree roots
100
Total compounds
36
As first character
62
As last character
2
As middle character

树 appears in 100 compound words: 36 as the first character, 62 as the last, and 2 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 树 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

棵kē
0.6473,458 co-occurrences
槐huái
0.5531,121 co-occurrences
脂zhī
0.5372,562 co-occurrences
橡xiàng
0.5262,096 co-occurrences
映yìng
0.51040 co-occurrences
木mù
0.4979,744 co-occurrences
晨chén
0.48640 co-occurrences
枝zhī
0.4692,559 co-occurrences
柳liǔ
0.4661,263 co-occurrences
椰yē
0.458394 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (8)

别树一帜biéshùyīzhìHSK 7+

to have a distinct style of one's own

phrase
独树一帜dúshùyīzhìHSK 7+

to develop one’s own unique style

phrase
猴面包树hóumiànbāoshùHSK 5+

monkey bread tree (Adansonia digitata)

noun
绿树成荫lǜshùchéngyīnHSK 7+

to have many green leafy trees that form a pleasant shade

phrase
树碑立传shù bēi lì zhuànHSK 7+

lit. to erect a stele and write a biography (idiom); to monumentalize; to glorify

phrase
树大招风shùdàzhāofēngHSK 4+

prominence invites trouble

phrase
芝兰玉树zhī lán yù shùHSK 7+

lit. orchids and jade trees (idiom); fig. a child with splendid future prospects

phrase
蚍蜉撼树pífúhànshùHSK 7+

to ridiculously overrate oneself; to be self-important

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

市政部门计划在今年春天种植五千棵行道树,美化城市环境。

Shìzhèng bùmén jìhuà zài jīnnián chūntiān zhòngzhí wǔqiān kē xíngdàoshù, měihuà chéngshì huánjìng.

The municipal department plans to plant five thousand street trees this spring to beautify the urban environment.

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

宇树发布四足机器人Unitree As2

yǔ shù fā bù sì zú jī qì rén U n i t r e e A s 2

Unitree released the quadruped robot Unitree As2

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

默茨明起访华两日 期间将参观宇树科技、西门子、平治等企业

mò 茨 míng qǐ fǎng huá liǎng rì qī jiān jiāng cān guàn yǔ shù kē jì , xī mén zǐ , píng zhì děng qǐ yè

During Mertzming's two-day visit to China, he will visit Unitree Technology, Siemens, Mercedes-Benz and other companies

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...人生急转弯】林比比鸟/教官退伍后,他靠攀树翻转人生

. . . rén shēng jí zhuǎn wān lín bǐ bǐ niǎo jiào guān tuì wǔ hòu , tā kào pān shù fān zhuǎn rén shēng

... A sharp turn in life] After Lin Bibi Bird/Instructor was discharged from the army, he turned his life around by climbing trees

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

(新春走基层)山西洪洞大槐树:家庭亲子游成主流 根祖文化激活年俗新体...

( xīn chūn zǒu jī céng ) shān xī hóng dòng dà huái shù : jiā tíng qīn zǐ yóu chéng zhǔ liú gēn zǔ wén huà jī huó nián sú xīn tǐ . . .

(New Year at the grassroots level) Hongdong big locust tree in Shanxi: Family parent-child travel has become the mainstream, and the root ancestor culture activates the new body of New Year's customs...

百度新闻Feb 2026

宇树科技王兴兴:今年宇树科技的目标出货量在1...

yǔ shù kē jì wáng xīng xīng jīn nián yǔ shù kē jì de mù biāo chū huò liáng zài . . .

Wang Xingxing of Yushu Technology: This year, Yushu Technology's target shipment volume is 1...

Tatoeba

树上有些苹果,不是吗?

Shù shàng yǒuxiē píngguǒ, bù shì ma?

There are a few apples on the tree, aren't there?

Tatoeba

棕榈树最高是多高?

Zōnglǘshù zuì gāo shì duō gāo?

How tall do most palm trees grow?

Tatoeba

为什么你在爬这棵树?

Wèishénme nǐ zài pá zhè kē shù?

Why are you climbing this tree?

Tatoeba

如果树木会说话,他们会告诉我们什么?

Rúguǒ shùmù huì shuōhuà, tāmen huì gàosu wǒmen shénme?

If trees could talk, what would they tell us?

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 木 (tree) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced shù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 树 (shù) mean in Chinese?
树 (shù) primarily means "tree." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #697 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 树 have?
树 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 树?
The radical associated with 树 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 树?
树 is composed of: 木 (semantic), 对 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰木对 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 树?
Common words with 树 include: 树林 (shù lín, "woods"); 圣诞树 (shèng dàn shù, "Christmas tree"); 树枝 (shù zhī, "branch"); 树木 (shù mù, "tree"); 树叶 (shù yè, "tree leaves"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 树 (shù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation shù: 数 (to count), 书 (book), 术 (method), 属 (category), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 树 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 树 and the traditional form is 樹.

Practice writing 树 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.