shè
verb #10,006

Meanings

  1. 1 to absorb
  2. 2 to photograph
  3. 3 to act for

Examples

HSK 4
Tā qǐng le rén lái shèxiàng hūnlǐ.
He hired someone to videotape the wedding.
HSK 5
Shèyǐngshī jià hǎo sānjiǎojià zhǔnbèi shèyǐng.
The photographer set up a tripod to take the photo.
HSK 7-9
Lǜyè shè rù yángguāng zhuǎnhuà wéi néngliàng.
Green leaves absorb sunlight and turn it into energy.

Tips

usage
(hand) + - hands capturing an image. Modern usage centers on photography/videography (摄影, 摄像); the older 'absorb/take in' sense survives in 摄取 (intake).

Components

radical
shǒu
hand
Hand radical on the left, the indexing component and a contracted form of . It marks as a hand-driven action - absorbing, taking in, capturing - and powers the modern compound 摄影 'photography', literally 'hand catching the shadow'. Same hand sits in and .
phonetic
niè
whisper; surname Nie
Right side niè supplies the sound with a regular shift niè → shè (an old initial alternation). The traditional had (three-ear form) as the phonetic - the simplified pair preserves the sound link with both sides reformed together.

Stroke Order

shè