早 (zǎo) · early, morning, good morning

Meanings

1 early
2 morning
3 good morning

Characters

早

zǎo

early; morning

Top part is 日 (sun) - the sun just appeared, so it's early.

Examples

HSK 1

早！你好！

Zǎo! Nǐhǎo!

Morning! Hello!

HSK 2

你来得太早了。

Nǐ lái de tài zǎo le.

You came too early.

HSK 3

我每天早起。

Wǒ měitiān zǎoqǐ.

I get up early every day.

Tips

history

早 combines 日 (sun) and 十 (ten, originally a marker). It represents the sun rising - the early part of the day.

usage

Just saying 早 or 早上好 is a common way to greet people in the morning. 早 alone is more casual.

Components

radical

日 rì

sun

Top sun radical, the indexing component. Pictures the round sun with a dot inside. 早 depicts the sun rising over a frame or grass-line below - the early-morning sun. Same radical anchors 时 (time), 明 (bright), 春 (spring), 晚 (evening).

ideograph

十 shí

cross-stroke; horizon

Bottom cross is a graphic horizon-line - likely a stylised 甲 (helmet, head) in the original graph, depicting the sun coming up over someone's head at dawn. It is not the numeral 'ten' here but a positional anchor showing where the sun sits in early morning.