HSK 4 · Objects

责任 zérèn “responsibility” in Chinese

Traditional 責任

What 责任 means

  1. responsibility
  2. blame
  3. duty
  4. liability

How to say 责任

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale责zé2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale任rèn4th tone, falling

责任 in a sentence

  1. 帮助你是我的责任。

    Bāngzhù nǐ shì wǒ de zérèn.

    It’s my duty to help you.

    Sentence #472326 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 失败的责任在他。

    Shībài de zérèn zài tā.

    He is to blame for the failure.

    Sentence #335406 from Tatoeba

  3. 父母承担教育子女的责任。

    Fùmǔ chéngdān jiàoyù zǐnǚ de zérèn.

    Parents are responsible for their children’s education.

    Sentence #466016 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 责任 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 责 (zé) with each of its parts in a different colour
责zéduty
  • 龶part of the character
  • 贝sea shell · bèi
The character 任 (rèn) with each of its parts in a different colour
任rènto assign
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 壬part of the characterSound part

How to write 责任

责 8 strokes · 任 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 责任

Words with 责

负责fùzé · to be in charge of责备zébèi · to blame责怪zéguài · to blame指责zhǐzé · to criticise谴责qiǎnzé · to condemn

Words with 任

任务rènwu · mission任何rènhé · any信任xìnrèn · to trust担任dānrèn · to hold (a post)主任zhǔrèn · director任性rènxìng · wilful任命rènmìng · to appoint上任shàngrèn · to take office任意rènyì · at will任重道远rènzhòngdàoyuǎn · to carry a heavy responsibility (lit. heavy load

More words: Everyday Things

印象yìnxiàng · impression羽毛球yǔmáoqiú · shuttlecock原因yuányīn · cause杂志zázhì · magazine知识zhīshi · knowledge质量zhìliàng · quality重点zhòngdiǎn · key point主意zhǔyi · plan

FAQs

责任 (zérèn) means “responsibility” or “blame”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it zérèn: zé with a 2nd tone, then rèn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 责任 is written 責任. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zeren with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 责任 from the suggestions. Typing zeren into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
责任 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.