How to Write 艿 (nǎi) — Meaning “taro; bud”

Imagine a small taro plant (艹) growing out of the ground, and the bottom part 乃 looks like a little sprout with two leaves. You can also think: "Nai, the taro, has grass on top."

Write the top grass radical 艹 first with the horizontal stroke longer than the two vertical strokes. The lower part 乃 starts with a short left-falling stroke, then a horizontal hook, and finally a left-slanting stroke — keep it compact so the whole character stays balanced and not too tall.

艹 is the grass radical itself, not a standalone character with a meaning like taro. 艺 (yì) means "art" or "skill" and has an added stroke (a hook) in the bottom part, while 艿 has 乃 below. Visually, 艿 has a square-ish bottom shape, while 艺 ends with a bending hook.

艿 appears in food words like 芋艿 (yù nǎi, small taro), which is a common ingredient in soups and desserts in southern China. It is also in 艿草 (nǎi cǎo), a type of grass, but it is rarely used alone and is not part of the HSK vocabulary, so you will mostly see it in regional cooking contexts.

Common words containing 艿 include: 芋艿 (yù nǎi) — Small taro; 艿头 (nǎi tóu) — taro root; bud; 艿草 (nǎi cǎo) — Nai grass.