zào
verb HSK 3 #1,928

Meanings

  1. 1 to make
  2. 2 to build
  3. 3 to create

Characters

Contains the movement radical , suggesting the process of going and making something.

Examples

Zhè zuò qiáo shì shéi zào de?
Who built this bridge?
Qǐng yòng zhège cí zào yí gè jùzi.
Please make a sentence with this word.
Zhōngguó rén zào le Chángchéng.
The Chinese built the Great Wall.

Tips

usage
造句 = to make a sentence — a common exercise in Chinese language class. 制造 = to manufacture.

Components

radical
chuò
to walk; motion (radical form of 辵)
Bottom-left motion radical — the indexing radical, the bottom-wrap form of . Names the active, going-out-into-the-world quality of : to make, to construct, to go-and-do. Same family: (advance), (side), (this), (cross over), (road) — all involve travel or active progression.
phonetic
gào
to inform; to announce
Inner supplies the sound, with gào shifting to zào in — a notable g/z initial alternation typical of this phonetic series. originally pictured a sacrificial ox over a mouth — an oath or proclamation. Faintly semantic in : making something brings it forth into announcement. Same phonetic family: (vast), (bright), (lean on).

Stroke Order

zào