白

白 (bái) primarily means 'white' as a color — 白色 (báisè, 'the color white'), 白衣服 ('white clothes'), 白头发 ('white hair'). Beyond color, 白 carries two important extended meanings English speakers should know. First, it means 'plain / blank / empty': 白纸 is a 'blank sheet of paper,' 白开水 is 'plain boiled water' (no tea, no flavoring), 空白 means 'a blank space.' Second, used as an adverb before a verb, 白 means 'in vain / for nothing': 白等了 ('waited for nothing'), 白说了 ('said it for nothing — wasted my breath'). Culturally, white in China has historically been the color of mourning and funerals — the opposite of red (festive, lucky) — though Western-style weddings have made white wedding dresses common in modern cities. The character also appears as a surname (Lǐ Bái, the Tang poet, is 李白).

Memory hook: Picture a single ray of sunlight on a blank page — that's 白: white, bright, and empty.