How to Write 稼 (jià) — Meaning “To sow; crops”

Picture a farmer's home (家) surrounded by fields of grain (禾). This image reminds you that 稼 is about the crops grown on a family farm. The sound also matches the pinyin jià, like ‘jia’ for home.

The left radical 禾 should be narrow and takes 5 strokes. The right part 家 has 10 strokes; be careful with the 横钩 (horizontal hook) after the two dots and avoid making the 弯钩 (curve hook) too short. The bottom is three 撇 strokes, so keep them evenly spaced and slanted.

稼 (crops) has the right side 家 (home), while 稔 (rěn, ripe grain) has 念 (to think, but here phonetic) and 稗 (bài, weed) has 卑 (low, humble). Visually, 稗 looks like a weed because 卑 suggests low status, whereas 稼 is about cultivated crops.

稼 appears mainly in words like 庄稼 (zhuāngjia, crops) and 庄稼人 (farmer). It is common in rural and agricultural topics, reflecting the importance of farming in Chinese culture. Although not in HSK, it is useful for discussing the harvest or traditional village life.

Common words containing 稼 include: 庄稼 (zhuāng jià) — crops; 庄稼人 (zhuāng jià rén) — farmer; peasant; 庄稼地 (zhuāng jià dì) — farmland; cropland.