野草
yěcǎo
In Chinese, the word for weed can be expressed as 野草 (yěcǎo) or 杂草 / 雜草. Wiktionary also lists 雜草 / 杂草 (zácǎo).
Meaning: unwanted plant (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 野草 | yěcǎo |
| 雜草 / 杂草 | zácǎo |
The term is used to describe unwanted plants. When you are discussing plants that are a nuisance in a garden or a field, 杂草 / 雜草 is the more common term.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 野草 is composed of 野 (wild) and 草 (grass).
Which one should you use?
野草 often carries a more poetic or descriptive connotation of 'wild grass' growing in nature. In contrast, 杂草 / 雜草 specifically emphasizes the 'unwanted' or 'mixed' nature of weeds in a garden or field.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the action of weeding or removing weeds, the verb 除草 is a formal and standard way to say it.
How do you pronounce it?
yěcǎo
Did you know?
- The verb 除草 can move beyond the garden to describe a military or political 'cleansing'. In these contexts, it refers to the forceful removal of specific individuals or elements from a group.
- The image of 野草 growing on a grave is a specific poetic motif in Chinese culture used to symbolize that a deceased person has been forgotten.
- The term 杂草 can be used as a derogatory slang term to describe a person who is insignificant or 'trash' within a social hierarchy.
Examples in context
- 请注意这块地上的一些草本植物，它们被认为是野草。Please pay attention to some herbaceous plants on this piece of land, they are considered weeds.
- 那片土地上长满了杂草，需要清理一下。That piece of land is full of weeds, it needs some cleaning up.
- 让我们一起除掉这些野草吧，让花园更漂亮。Let's get rid of these weeds together and make the garden more beautiful.
- 花园里长了很多野草。Huāyuán lǐ zhǎngle hěnduō yěcǎo.There are many weeds growing in the garden.
- 这种野草很难拔掉。Zhè zhǒng yěcǎo hěn nán bá diào.This kind of weed is very hard to pull up.
- 我们要清理一下这些野草。Wǒmen yào qīnglǐ yīxià zhèxiē yěcǎo.We need to clear out these weeds.
Example conversation
Wei and Zihan are cleaning the backyard together.
- 伟 Wei梓涵，你看这里的野草太多了。Zǐhán, nǐ kàn zhèlǐ de yěcǎo tài duō le.Zihan, look, there are too many weeds here.
- 梓涵 Zihan确实，我们需要清理一下。Quèshí, wǒmen xūyào qīnglǐ yīxià.Indeed, we need to clean it up.
- 伟 Wei我来拔野草，你负责浇水吧。Wǒ lái bá yěcǎo, nǐ fùzé jiāoshuǐ ba.I will pull the weeds, and you be in charge of watering.
- 梓涵 Zihan没问题，伟，就这样分工。Méi wèntí, Wěi, jiù zhèyàng fēngōng.No problem, Wei, let's divide the work that way.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “weed” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
