成 (chéng): to become

Meanings

1 to become
2 to succeed
3 to complete

Characters

成

chéng

to become; to succeed; to complete

Contains 戊 (weapon) + a stroke — originally depicted finishing a battle, hence 'to accomplish'.

Examples

他长大成了一个好人。

Tā zhǎngdà chéng le yí gè hǎo rén.

He grew up to be a good person.

事情成了。

Shìqíng chéng le.

It worked out.

把这本书翻译成英文。

Bǎ zhè běn shū fānyì chéng Yīngwén.

Translate this book into English.

Tips

grammar

成 after verbs means into or become: 变成 (change into), 翻译成 (translate into), 看成 (regard as).

usage

成 appears in many set phrases: 成功 (succeed), 成为 (become), 完成 (complete).

Components

radical

戈 gē

dagger-axe; spear

Outer 戈 — the indexing radical (Kangxi #62). Pictures a long-handled dagger-axe, the standard Bronze-Age weapon. The whole compound originally depicted a successful military strike: completion of an action through force, hence "to accomplish, become, finish." Same family as 战, 我, 戏.

semantic

丁 dīng

peg; nail (here marker)

Inner 丁-shape — historically the bottom hook of 成 traced a chopping/marking action: a tool stroke marking completion. Strict etymology reads the inside as a sound element related to 丁; visually it splits cleanly here as an indicator of finished work. Same kind of inside-marker logic as 戌, 戍.