Learn a Chinese Character - 煮 (zhǔ) - Boil

1. Character Basics (基本信息)

Radical: 灬 (Fire radical, here related to cooking with heat)

Stroke Count: 12 (Total number of strokes in the character)

Character Decomposition: 者 + 灬 (The left part "者" doesn't have a direct semantic connection here, and the right part "灬" represents fire or heat for cooking)

Stroke Order:

2. Pronunciation (发音)

Pinyin: zhǔ (Third tone)

3. Meaning (含义)

To boil, cook in boiling water. (The character 煮 is used to describe the action of cooking food by putting it in boiling water.)

4. Common Words (常用词汇)

• 煮饭 (zhǔ fàn) - Cook rice
• 煮面 (zhǔ miàn) - Cook noodles
• 煮汤 (zhǔ tāng) - Make soup

5. Grammar & Usage (语法与用法)

煮 is a verb. It is often followed by the object to be cooked, e.g., 煮 + [food name]. (煮 is used as a verb in a sentence. Usually, it is followed by the thing that is being cooked. For example, you can say "煮面条" which means "cook noodles".)

6. Cultural Background (文化背景)

Cooking by boiling is a common and traditional cooking method in Chinese cuisine. It reflects the Chinese emphasis on the natural flavor of ingredients. (Boiling is a very common and traditional cooking way in Chinese food culture. It shows that Chinese people value the original taste of the food materials.)

7. Example Sentence (例句)

8. Memory Tips (记忆技巧)

You can remember 煮 by associating the "灬" part with fire and the act of boiling. The left part "者" can be thought of as a person doing the cooking. (你可以把“灬”联想成火和煮东西的动作，左边的“者”可以想象成正在做饭的人，这样来记忆“煮”这个字。)