根 (gēn) is a Chinese character meaning “root (of a plant)”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “root”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
木 + 艮
Left–right structure
- 木 tree; wood · mù meaning
- 艮 gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn" · gèn sound
Structure from: 说文解字：根，木株也。从木艮聲。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（木4 + 艮6 = 10 笔）
Memory aid
木 on the left is a tree. 艮 on the right is there for the sound — gèn, almost gēn. Dig down under the tree and you reach 根: its root.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 树根shù gēnroot of a tree根 = gēn
- 根本gēn běnfundamental; basic; (not) at all根 = gēn
- 刨根问底páo gēn wèn dǐto dig up the root and ask to the bottom — to get to the bottom of something根 = gēn
- 扎根zhā gēnto take root; to settle down in a place根 = gēn
- 根茎gēn jīngrhizome; root and stem根 = gēn
- 根据gēn jùaccording to; on the basis of; basis根 = gēn
- 根深蒂固gēn shēn dì gùdeep-rooted; firmly entrenched根 = gēn
Go deeper
All readings
root
root (of a plant); base; origin; measure word for long thin objects
植物长在土里的部分；也指事物的本源、基础。还可作量词，用于细长的东西。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 树根shù gēnroot of a tree根 = gēn
- 根本gēn běnfundamental; basic; (not) at all根 = gēn
- 刨根问底páo gēn wèn dǐto dig up the root and ask to the bottom — to get to the bottom of something根 = gēn
- 扎根zhā gēnto take root; to settle down in a place根 = gēn
- 根茎gēn jīngrhizome; root and stem根 = gēn
- 根据gēn jùaccording to; on the basis of; basis根 = gēn
- 根深蒂固gēn shēn dì gùdeep-rooted; firmly entrenched根 = gēn
Origin
A phono-semantic compound: 木 "tree" on the left gives the meaning, and 艮 on the right supplies the sound. 说文解字 glosses it as the root or base of a tree.
Source: 说文解字：根，木株也。从木艮聲。
Sound component
艮 family tone diff
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 根 mean?
根 (gēn) means root (of a plant); base; origin; measure word for long thin objects.
How do you pronounce 根?
It is pronounced gēn.
What parts is 根 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：根，木株也。从木艮聲。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（木4 + 艮6 = 10 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 根 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 根?
木. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 根?
Common ones are 树根 and 根本. The reading of 根 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.