赚 (zhuàn) · to earn; to make (money)

Meanings

1 to earn; to make (money)
2 to profit; to gain

Characters

赚

zhuàn

to earn; to profit

Examples

HSK 1

他一个月赚多少钱？

Tā yī gè yuè zhuàn duōshao qián?

How much does he earn per month?

HSK 5

老板总想着怎么多赚点利润。

Lǎobǎn zǒng xiǎng zhe zěnme duō zhuàn diǎn lìrùn.

The boss is always thinking about how to squeeze out more profit.

HSK 6

开网店能赚到钱吗？

Kāi wǎngdiàn néng zhuàn dào qián ma?

Can you make money running an online store?

Tips

usage

赚 and 挣 both translate as 'to earn,' but they hit different notes. 赚 emphasises the margin - turning a profit, coming out ahead - and pairs naturally with business, trading, and investments. 挣 emphasises the labour - wages earned by sweat. A shopkeeper 赚钱; a construction worker 挣钱.

memory

Left side is 贝 (cowrie shell = ancient money) and right side is 兼 (a hand grasping two stalks of grain). Read it as 'money plus grasping more than one stalk at a time' - that is exactly what turning a profit feels like.

Components

radical

贝 bèi

cowrie shell; money

Left cowrie radical (Kangxi #154) - simplified from 貝, originally the pictograph of a cowrie shell. Cowries were ancient currency, so this radical anchors the whole money-and-trade family: 财 (wealth), 购 (purchase), 贵 (expensive), 贷 (loan), 账 (account). Tells you immediately: this character is about money.

phonetic

兼 jiān

concurrent; double

Right phonetic 兼 - supplies the sound (jiān drifted to zhuàn, irregular but consistent across the small family). Originally a hand grasping two stalks of grain at once = 'holding two things together.' Adds a faint flavour: earning means gathering more than one stalk. Same phonetic in 廉 (cheap), 嫌 (dislike), 谦 (modest).