觉 (jué): to feel; to sense

Meanings

1 to feel; to sense
2 to find that; to think
3 to become aware; to wake up to
4 consciousness; perception

Characters

觉

jué

to feel; to perceive; to become aware

Examples

HSK 3

我觉得这个主意不错。

Wǒ juéde zhège zhǔyi búcuò.

I think this idea is pretty good.

HSK 6

他终于觉悟到了自己的错误。

Tā zhōngyú juéwù dào le zìjǐ de cuòwù.

He finally became aware of his own mistakes.

HSK 7-9

她突然察觉有人在跟踪她。

Tā tūrán chájué yǒurén zài gēnzōng tā.

She suddenly sensed that someone was following her.

Tips

mistakes

觉 has two readings. Default to jué for the wide family of perception/awareness words: 觉得, 感觉, 发觉, 视觉, 自觉. Switch to jiào only when the word means 'a sleep' (see the separate jiào entry: 睡觉, 午觉).

memory

Read the shape top-down: small dots (⺍) stirring above a cover (冖) drop down into the 见 'see' radical - something pierces the veil and the eye catches it. That is the jué feeling: a flicker of awareness.

Components

radical

见 jiàn

see (radical)

Bottom 'see' radical (Kangxi #147) - simplified from 見, a person 儿 with an enlarged 目 eye on top. It anchors the perception family: 视觉, 听觉, 感觉. The jiào 'sleep' reading is a rebus borrowing - not pictured here.

semantic

⺍ xiǎo

small (top dots form)

Top three short strokes - the compressed top form of 小, also sitting atop 学, 党, 常. Three small flickers above the eye below - a tiny stir that the 见 radical at the bottom 'sees'.

semantic

冖 mì

cover; canopy

Middle cover-shape - a horizontal canopy with downward hooks at each end, picturing a roof or curtain. Inside 觉 it veils the eye below: the dots above reach through the cover into perception. Same cover sits in 写 and 军.