招 (zhāo) · to recruit; to attract; to beckon

Meanings

1 to recruit; to attract; to beckon
2 a move; a trick; a method
3 to confess (under interrogation)

Characters

招

zhāo

to beckon; to recruit; move/trick

Examples

HSK 1

这家公司正在招人。

Zhè jiā gōngsī zhèngzài zhāo rén.

This company is recruiting.

HSK 2

招手叫出租车。

Zhāoshǒu jiào chūzūchē.

Wave to hail a taxi.

HSK 3

他终于招了。

Tā zhōngyú zhāo le.

He finally confessed.

HSK 6

面对这样的局面，他还留着最后一招。

Miànduì zhèyàng de júmiàn, tā hái liú zhe zuìhòu yì zhāo.

Facing this situation, he's still holding his last move in reserve.

Tips

usage

As a noun meaning 'move/trick': 高招 (brilliant move), 绝招 (killer move/signature technique), 没招 (no idea what to do). Common verb compounds: 招手 (wave/beckon), 招生 (recruit students), 招待 (entertain guests).

memory

The hand radical 扌 + 召 (to summon) - using your hand to summon someone.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand

Left-side hand radical, side-form of 手 - the indexing radical. Marks 招 as a hand-action: waving, beckoning, gesturing someone over. The hand reaches out to summon. Same family: 招手 wave, 拉 pull, 抱 hug, 推 push. The action is bodily, often outward-reaching.

phonetic

召 zhào

summon; call together

Right side 召 supplies the sound (zhào → zhāo, tone shift) AND a perfect semantic hook. 召 itself depicts a 刀 (order-token) above a 口 (mouth) - issuing a verbal summons. With the hand added: 'summoning by hand-gesture' = 招. One of the cleanest phono-semantic compounds in the language: phonetic and semantic reinforce each other.