菠 (bō) is a Chinese character meaning “used in 菠菜 (spinach) and 菠萝 (pineapple)”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 波 (wave), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “spinach”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
艹 + 波
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS: ⿱艹波（现代字形拆分，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画 0–2 / 3–10 核对）；波 bō 与本字同音
Memory aid
A leafy plant (艹) sits on top of 波 (bō, "wave"). The plant part says it's something that grows; 波 lends its sound: bō — as in 菠菜 bōcài, spinach.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 菠菜bō càispinach菠 = bō
- 菠萝bō luópineapple菠 = bō
Go deeper
All readings
spinach (in 菠菜)
used in 菠菜 (spinach) and 菠萝 (pineapple)
用于「菠菜」「菠萝」等植物名称。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 菠菜bō càispinach菠 = bō
- 菠萝bō luópineapple菠 = bō
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 菠 mean?
菠 (bō) means used in 菠菜 (spinach) and 菠萝 (pineapple).
How do you pronounce 菠?
It is pronounced bō.
What parts is 菠 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 波 (wave), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS: ⿱艹波（现代字形拆分，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画 0–2 / 3–10 核对）；波 bō 与本字同音. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 菠 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 菠?
艹. 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 菠?
Common ones are 菠菜 and 菠萝. The reading of 菠 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.