花 huā — flower

Meanings

1. 1

   flower

   A flower, and 花 in the mass: 公园里的花 is "the flowers in the park" without any plural marking. A single bloom is 一朵花.

   noun
2. 2

   to spend (money or time)

   verb

   The two senses share a character but not a construction. As a verb 花 wants two things after it: how much, and on what — 花了两个小时写作业, 买这本书花了三十块钱.

Character breakdown

• 花

  huā (first tone, high and level)

  flower, blossom; patterned, multicoloured; to spend (money or time)

  7 strokes⿱艹化Radical 艸

Example sentences

• 公园里的花很好看。/公園裡的花很好看。Gōngyuán (first tone, high and level) li (neutral tone) de (neutral tone) huā (first tone, high and level) hěn (third tone, dipping) hǎokàn. (third tone, dipping)···

  The flowers in the park are lovely.

• 我花了两个小时写作业。/我花了兩個小時寫作業。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) huāle (first tone, high and level) liǎng (third tone, dipping) ge (neutral tone) xiǎoshí (third tone, dipping) xiě (third tone, dipping) zuòyè. (fourth tone, falling)···

  I spent two hours on my homework.

Common mistakes

• Not quite我花了这本书三十块钱。

  Correct我买这本书花了三十块钱。

  花 does not take the thing bought as its object. Name the action first — 买这本书 — and let 花 report what it cost you.

Similar words

Words containing 花

• 花园/花園huā (first tone, high and level) yuán (second tone, rising)garden
• 花费/花費huā (first tone, high and level) fèi (fourth tone, falling)expense
• 棉花mián (second tone, rising) hua (neutral tone)cotton
• 花样/花樣huā (first tone, high and level) yàng (fourth tone, falling)pattern
• 鲜花/鮮花xiān (first tone, high and level) huā (first tone, high and level)flower
• 花生huā (first tone, high and level) shēng (first tone, high and level)peanut
• 烟花/煙花yān (first tone, high and level) huā (first tone, high and level)fireworks
• 火花huǒ (third tone, dipping) huā (first tone, high and level)spark
• 花瓶huā (first tone, high and level) píng (second tone, rising)flower vase
• 菊花jú (second tone, rising) huā (first tone, high and level)chrysanthemum
• 开花/開花kāi (first tone, high and level) huā (first tone, high and level)to bloom; to blossom; to flower
• 花瓣huā (first tone, high and level) bàn (fourth tone, falling)petal
• 花纹/花紋huā (first tone, high and level) wén (second tone, rising)decorative design
• 桃花táo (second tone, rising) huā (first tone, high and level)peach blossom
• 花卉huā (first tone, high and level) huì (fourth tone, falling)flowers and plants
• 零花钱/零花錢líng (second tone, rising) huā (first tone, high and level) qián (second tone, rising)pocket money
• 梅花méi (second tone, rising) huā (first tone, high and level)plum blossom