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

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.

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.

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.

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.