土

Earth, soil Component (土)

tǔ · 3 strokes

The earth, soil component (土) is one of the most common building blocks in Chinese characters. In Chinese, components serve different roles: semantic elements contribute meaning, phonetic elements suggest pronunciation, and structural elements provide the character's framework. It primarily serves as a semantic element, contributing meaning related to earth, soil and associated concepts to the characters where it appears. It typically appears on the left side of a character. 71 characters: 6 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 2 in HSK 3, 12 in HSK 4, 6 in HSK 5, 11 in HSK 6, 30 in HSK 7-9. Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.

Radical vs. Component: 土 is also a Kangxi radical (earth). As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For radical-specific details, see the Earth, soil Radical (土) page.

Earth, soil Component at a Glance

Stroke Count3
Total Characters71
Primary RoleSemantic (meaning)
Typical Positionleft side
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (30 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes9
Also a Kangxi Radical?Yes — view radical page

All Earth, soil Component Characters

HSK 1 (6 characters)

坐zuòto sit块kuàipiece, lump在zàito exist里lǐlining去qùto go生shēngto be born

HSK 2 (4 characters)

地dìearth, ground场chǎngfield, place坏huàibad, broken走zǒuto walk

HSK 3 (2 characters)

城chéngcity, wall境jìngborder, situation

HSK 4 (12 characters)

肚dùstomach增zēngincrease基jībase, foundation堂tánghall垃lāgarbage圾jīgarbage填tiánto fill in社shè(bound form) society幸xìngtrusted堵dǔto block up (a road, pipe etc)塑sùto model (a figure) in clay址zhǐ(bound form) site

HSK 5 (6 characters)

培péito cultivate, to train堆duīto pile, to heap墙qiángwall域yùregion, area型xíngtype, model均jūn(bound form) equal

HSK 6 (11 characters)

吐tǔto spit, to vomit坡pōslope埋máito bury坛tánaltar, forum田tiánfield庄zhuāngvillage, manor王wángking or monarch壁bìwall塔tǎpagoda (abbr. for 塔婆, a loanword from Sanskrit stūpa)尘chéndust壤rǎng(bound form) soil

HSK 7-9 (30 characters)

坦tǎnflat, candid堡bǎofort, castle墅shùvilla墨mòabbr. for 墨西哥, Mexico墓mùgrave圣shèng(bound form) peerless (in wisdom, moral virtue, skill etc)寺sìBuddhist temple坝bà(used in place names) plain赤chìred堤dīdike垫diànpad杜dùbirchleaf pear (tree)堕duòto fall坟féngrave堪kān(bound form) may垦kěnto reclaim (land)坑kēngpit垮kuǎto collapse (lit. or fig.)垒lěirampart垄lǒngridge between fields牡mǔ(of a bird, animal or plant) male坪pínga plain塌tāto collapse塘tángdyke墟xūruins灶zàokitchen stove坠zhuìto fall坊fāngsurname Fang坎kǎnpit坷kēused in 坷垃[ke1 la1]

Frequently Asked Questions

What characters contain the earth, soil component (土)?
There are 71 characters containing the earth, soil component (土) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 6 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 2 in HSK 3, 12 in HSK 4, 6 in HSK 5, 11 in HSK 6, 30 in HSK 7-9. The most frequently used include 在 (zài, "to exist"), 地 (dì, "earth, ground"), 生 (shēng, "to be born"), 里 (lǐ, "lining"), 去 (qù, "to go"). Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.
Is 土 a radical or a component?
土 is both. As a Kangxi radical, 土 (earth) is part of the traditional system of 214 radicals used to classify Chinese characters in dictionaries. As a component, 土 is a building block that contributes meaning, sound, or structure to compound characters. When a character "has the earth, soil radical," it means 土 is the character's primary classifier. When a character "contains the earth, soil component," it means 土 appears in the character's decomposition, regardless of whether it serves as the primary radical.
What sound does the earth, soil component (土) give to characters?
When 土 serves as a phonetic element (in 5 of its 71 characters), it commonly contributes these pronunciation patterns: du (肚, 杜); tu (吐); shu (墅). Phonetic components are one of the most powerful tools for reading unfamiliar characters — if you recognize 土 in a new character, there is a good chance the pronunciation is related. Note that tones and initial consonants may vary across characters sharing the same phonetic component.
Where does 土 appear in a character?
The earth, soil component (土) most commonly appears on the left side of a character. Full position breakdown: left side (36 characters), bottom (19 characters), right side (6 characters), top (5 characters), inner (enclosed) part (3 characters), overlay (2 characters). Knowing where a component typically sits helps with character recognition — when you see 土 in its usual position, you can quickly identify it and infer the character's meaning or pronunciation.
What HSK levels include earth, soil component characters?
Characters containing the earth, soil component (土) appear across 7 HSK levels: 6 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 2 in HSK 3, 12 in HSK 4, 6 in HSK 5, 11 in HSK 6, 30 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 30 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common earth, soil-related characters, while advanced levels add specialized or literary terms.

Sources & Standards

Components are identified through structural decomposition analysis of characters in the HSK 3.0 Standard (《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2022 revision. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首).