捎 (shāo): to bring along

Meanings

1 to bring along
2 to take (something to someone)
3 to carry (as a favor)

Characters

捎

shāo

to bring along; to take (something for someone)

Examples

你回去的时候帮我捎个东西。

Nǐ huíqù de shíhòu bāng wǒ shāo gè dōngxi.

When you go back, please take something along for me.

请帮我捎个话给他。

Qǐng bāng wǒ shāo gè huà gěi tā.

Please pass a message to him for me.

Tips

usage

捎 implies carrying something as a casual favor while already going somewhere. 捎话 (pass a message) and 捎带 (take along) are common collocations.

mistakes

Don't confuse 捎 (shāo, to bring along) with 稍 (shāo, slightly) - same sound, different characters and meanings.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Hand radical on the left - 捎 means to take something along for someone, to bring a parcel or message by hand on your way. The hand marker pins it to the manual-conveyance family with 拿 carry, 提 lift, 带 bring. Originally also meant to brush against something in passing - still a hand-led action.

phonetic

肖 xiào

resemble

Right side 肖 supplies the sound - xiào shifting to shāo via the regular x/sh sibilant alternation. The 'resemble' meaning of 肖 has no role here. Same phonetic anchors a small family: 稍 slightly, 削 to peel, 哨 whistle, 梢 tree-tip - most reading shāo or xiāo, showing the cluster of related sounds 肖 generates.