HSK 6 · Verbs

做主 zuòzhǔ “to make the decision” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 做主 means

  1. to make the decision
  2. to take charge

How to say 做主

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale做zuò4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale主zhǔ3rd tone, dipping

做主 in a sentence

  1. 这件事我没法做主，得问问经理。

    Zhè jiàn shì wǒ méifǎ zuòzhǔ, děi wènwen jīnglǐ.

    I can’t make the call on this; I’ll have to ask the manager.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 婚姻大事要自己做主。

    Hūnyīn dàshì yào zìjǐ zuòzhǔ.

    You should make your own decision about marriage.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 做主 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 做 (zuò) with each of its parts in a different colour
做zuòto make; to produce
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 故reason · gù

Memory aidPerson 亻 with 故 (gù) for the sound: to do, to make.

The character 主 (zhǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
主zhǔowner
  • 丶dot · zhǔ
  • 王king · wáng

Memory aidThe dot 丶 on top was once the flame of a lamp: the main one, the master.

How to write 做主

做 11 strokes · 主 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 做主

Words with 做

做zuò · to do做饭zuòfàn · to prepare a meal做到zuòdào · to accomplish做客zuòkè · to be a guest

Words with 主

主要zhǔyào · main主意zhǔyi · plan主人zhǔrén · master主张zhǔzhāng · to advocate主持zhǔchí · to host (a programme or event)主观zhǔguān · subjective主任zhǔrèn · director公主gōngzhǔ · princess主席zhǔxí · chairperson主题zhǔtí · theme

More words: Thinking & Talking

必须bìxū · must担心dānxīn · to worry放心fàngxīn · relax复习fùxí · revise着重zhuózhòng · to emphasise注重zhùzhòng · to emphasise走漏zǒulòu · to leak (information)琢磨zuómo · to ponder

FAQs

做主 (zuòzhǔ) means “to make the decision” or “to take charge”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zuòzhǔ: zuò with a 4th tone, then zhǔ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 做主 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zuozhu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 做主 from the suggestions. Typing zuozhu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
做主 is an HSK 6 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.