转 (zhuǎn): to change

Meanings

1 to change
2 to transfer
3 to forward
4 to turn (direction)

Characters

Vehicle radical 车 on the left, phonetic 专 on the right - wheels turning is the prototypical image, extended to changing direction, transferring, and forwarding.

Examples

HSK 2

请在下一个路口向左转。

Qǐng zài xià yīgè lùkǒu xiàng zuǒ zhuǎn.

Please turn left at the next intersection.

HSK 4

请替我转告你妈妈我的问候。

Qǐng tì wǒ zhuǎngào nǐ māma wǒ de wènhòu.

Please pass on my regards to your mother.

HSK 6

我明天把钱转到你的账户。

Wǒ míngtiān bǎ qián zhuǎn dào nǐ de zhànghù.

I'll transfer the money to your account tomorrow.

Tips

mistakes

转 has two main readings. Use zhuǎn (third tone) for change/transfer/forward and one-shot direction change: 转弯, 转身, 转告, 转账. Use zhuàn (fourth tone) for continuous spinning and the measure for revolutions: 转圈, 自转, 公转. Quick test: a one-time pivot or hand-off is zhuǎn; going round and round is zhuàn.

memory

Picture the zhuǎn sense as a single pivot: the steering wheel turns once and the car heads a new way, or money pivots from one account to another. One decisive turn, not endless spinning.

Components

radical

车 chē

vehicle; cart

Vehicle radical on the left - simplified from 車, the ancient pictograph of a cart seen from above with axle and two wheels. Wheels turning is the prototypical image of 转: a wheel goes round, hence change direction, transfer, forward. Same radical anchors 轮 wheel, 输 to transport, 轨 track.

phonetic

专 zhuān

specialised; concentrated

Right side 专 supplies the sound (zhuān to zhuǎn or zhuàn, just a tone shift). Simplified from 專, originally a hand turning a spindle - and a spindle turning is exactly the picture of rotation. Same phonetic in 砖 brick, 传 transmit.