How to Write 萘 (nài) — Meaning “naphthalene”

Imagine a plant (艹) that smells strange, like mothballs. The bottom part 奈 looks like a cross with a small box, reminding you of a chemical container. Think: "Grass plus a strange boxed chemical equals naphthalene."

Write the top radical 艹 first as two horizontal strokes followed by a vertical in the center. Then write 奈: first the big cross (一十), then the small 示-like component below. A common mistake is to make the bottom part too wide; keep it compact inside the 艹.

萘 (nài) means naphthalene and has 艹 plus 奈. 兹 (zī) means "this" or "now" and has 丷 over 幺, no grass radical. 苧 (zhù) is a plant name (ramie) with 艹 and 宁. Visually, 萘 has 奈 inside, while 苧 has 宁. Their meanings and pronunciations are completely different.

萘 appears mainly in chemical terms like 萘丸 (nài wán, mothballs) and 萘乙酸 (nài yǐ suān, a plant growth regulator). It is not common in daily conversation but important in science and agriculture. If you see it, it is almost always in a technical or industrial context.

Common words containing 萘 include: 萘丸 (nài wán) — mothballs; 萘酚 (nài fēn) — naphthol; 萘乙酸 (nài yǐ suān) — naphthalene acetic acid (NAA).