扔

rēng

乃 + 扌

HSK 2.0Level 4

HSK 3.0Level 4

Definitions

rēng (verb) to throw; to throw away

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 乃 represents the sound.

Semantic: 扌 Phonetic: 乃

About

扔 is a phono-semantic compound: the semantic component 扌, meaning 'hand', signifies a manual action, while the phonetic component 乃 supplies the pronunciation. Historically, it meant to pull toward oneself, draw, or pluck, actions clearly tied to the hand. Over time, the meaning took a sharp turn from pulling inward to pushing outward, casting, and eventually settled into the modern sense of throwing, tossing, or discarding. The character now universally denotes projecting something away from the body with the hand.

Etymology Hide

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我扔了一个球。

Wǒ rēng le yī gè qiú.

I threw a ball.

请把垃圾扔掉。

Qǐng bǎ lājī rēng diào.

Please throw away the trash.

他扔给我一本书。

Tā rēng gěi wǒ yī běn shū.

He threw me a book.

不要乱扔废弃物。

Bùyào luàn rēng fèiqìwù.

Do not litter waste.

她把旧衣服扔进了垃圾桶。

Tā bǎ jiù yīfu rēng jìnle lājītǒng.

She threw the old clothes into the trash can.

如果你不喜欢，就把它扔掉吧。

Rúguǒ nǐ bù xǐhuān, jiù bǎ tā rēng diào ba.

If you don't like it, just throw it away.

他生气地把报纸扔在了地上。

Tā shēngqì de bǎ bàozhǐ rēng zàile dìshàng.

He angrily threw the newspaper on the ground.

在清理房间时，我决定扔掉所有没用的东西。

Zài qīnglǐ fángjiān shí, wǒ juédìng rēng diào suǒyǒu méi yòng de dōngxī.

While cleaning the room, I decided to throw away all useless things.

Related Characters

Component: 乃

Component: 扌

扔