WATER = 浇水 [jiāo shuǐ]

On a deck railing, a hamster hugs a flowered watering can almost as big as itself and tips it toward a pot of pink flowers. That careful pour is 浇水.

浇水 (jiāo shuǐ) means “to water” plants. 浇 means to pour liquid over something, and 水 is water, so the word is literally “pour water.” The WATER in the drawing is the verb, not the noun.

Say what gets the water with 给 (gěi): 给花浇水 (gěi huā jiāo shuǐ), water the flowers.

我每天给花浇水。 — Wǒ měitiān gěi huā jiāo shuǐ. — I water the flowers every day.

今天下雨，不用浇水。 — Jīntiān xià yǔ, bú yòng jiāo shuǐ. — It’s raining today, so there’s no need to water.