HSK 6 · Ideas

根源 gēnyuán “root” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 根源 means

  1. root
  2. source
  3. origin
  4. root (cause)

How to say 根源

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale根gēn1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale源yuán2nd tone, rising

根源 in a sentence

  1. 我无法找到问题的根源。

    Wǒ wúfǎ zhǎodào wèntí de gēnyuán.

    I can’t find the source of the problem.

    Sentence #2017436 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我们必须找出问题的根源。

    Wǒmen bìxū zhǎochū wèntí de gēnyuán.

    We must get to the root of the problem.

    Sentence #13748480 from Tatoeba

How 根源 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 根 (gēn) with each of its parts in a different colour
根gēnroot
  • 木tree · mùMeaning part
  • 艮stopping · gěnSound part

木 hints at the meaning (tree); 艮 (gěn) hints at the sound. Compare it with gēn.

The character 源 (yuán) with each of its parts in a different colour
源yuánroot
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 原source · yuánSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 原 (yuán) hints at the sound. Compare it with yuán.

How to write 根源

根 10 strokes · 源 13 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

根源 (gēnyuán) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 根源 (gēnyuán). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 根源

Words with 根

根据gēnjù · according to根gēn · root根本gēnběn · (not) at all根深蒂固gēnshēndìgù · deep-rooted归根到底guīgēndàodǐ · in the final analysis

Words with 源

资源zīyuán · resources能源néngyuán · energy电源diànyuán · power supply来源láiyuán · source起源qǐyuán · origin源泉yuánquán · source

More words: Ideas & Concepts

高潮gāocháo · climax高峰gāofēng · peak高涨gāozhǎng · to rise格局géjú · structure格式géshì · format功效gōngxiào · effect光彩guāngcǎi · glory光辉guānghuī · radiance

FAQs

根源 (gēnyuán) means “root” or “source”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it gēnyuán: gēn with a 1st tone, then yuán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 根源 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type genyuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 根源 from the suggestions. Typing genyuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
根源 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.