照 (zhào): to shine; to illuminate

Meanings

1 to shine; to illuminate
2 to photograph; photo
3 according to; in accordance with

Characters

照

zhào

to shine; to photograph

Contains 日 (sun) and 灬 (fire) at the bottom — double sources of light illuminating something.

Examples

太阳照在窗户上。

Tàiyáng zhào zài chuānghù shàng.

The sun shines on the window.

我们一起照张相吧。

Wǒmen yīqǐ zhào zhāng xiàng ba.

Let's take a photo together.

照他说的做。

Zhào tā shuō de zuò.

Do as he says.

Tips

usage

照相 means to take a photo. 照片 is a photograph. 护照 is a passport. 按照 means 'according to'.

Components

radical

灬 huǒ

fire (bottom form)

Bottom 灬 — the four-dot fire radical, bottom-form of 火, the indexing radical. Adds a second light source under the 日 sun above: 'sunlight on top, firelight below.' Pictures double illumination, making 照 emphatically about light and shining. Same 灬 family: 热 hot, 烈 fierce, 煮 boil, 然 (originally to burn).

phonetic

昭 zhāo

bright; clear

Top 昭 is itself a compound of 日 (sun) and 召 (summon), picturing brilliant sunlight calling forth visibility. Supplies the sound (zhāo → zhào, tone shift) AND a strong semantic echo: 昭 means 'shining clearly' on its own. A classic phonetic-plus-semantic alignment — both halves reinforce 'shine, illuminate, photograph.'