HSK 4 · Verbs

收 shōu “to receive” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 收 means

  1. to receive
  2. to accept
  3. to collect
  4. to put away
  5. to restrain
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to stop

How to say 收

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale收shōu1st tone, high and level

收 in a sentence

  1. 不收小费。

    Bù shōu xiǎofèi.

    No tips accepted.

    Sentence #339227 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 她收下了他的礼物。

    Tā shōu xià le tā de lǐwù.

    She accepted his gift.

    Sentence #493515 from Tatoeba

  3. 你收私人支票吗？

    Nǐ shōu sīrén zhīpiào ma?

    Do you accept personal cheques?

    Sentence #874694 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 收 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 收 (shōu) with each of its parts in a different colour
收shōuto receive
  • 丩to connect · jiūSound part
  • 攵tap form of 攴 · pūMeaning part

攵 hints at the meaning (tap); 丩 (jiū) hints at the sound. Compare it with shōu.

How to write 收

收 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

收 (shōu) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 收 (shōu). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 收

Words with 收

收到shōudào · to receive收拾shōushi · to put in order收入shōurù · income吸收xīshōu · to absorb收据shōujù · receipt收获shōuhuò · harvest收藏shōucáng · to collect收缩shōusuō · to shrink验收yànshōu · to check and accept招收zhāoshōu · to recruit

More words: Common Verbs

使shǐ · to make使用shǐyòng · to use适合shìhé · to fit适应shìyìng · to adapt收拾shōushi · to put in order受到shòudào · to receive (praise输shū · to lose (a game or bet)死sǐ · to die

FAQs

收 (shōu) means “to receive” or “to accept”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it shōu: shōu with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 收 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 收 from the suggestions. Typing shou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
收 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.