HSK 6 · Science

操作 cāozuò “to operate” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 操作 means

  1. to operate
  2. operation
  3. to work
  4. to manipulate

How to say 操作

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale操cāo1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale作zuò4th tone, falling

操作 in a sentence

  1. 她不会操作这台机器。

    Tā búhuì cāozuò zhè tái jīqì.

    She cannot work this machine.

    Sentence #1192621 from Tatoeba

  2. 这台机器很容易操作。

    Zhè tái jīqì hěn róngyì cāozuò.

    This machine is easy to operate.

    Sentence #402979 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 你最喜欢的操作系统是哪个？

    Nǐ zuì xǐhuan de cāozuò xìtǒng shì nǎge?

    What’s your favourite operating system?

    Sentence #7774751 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 操作 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 操 (cāo) with each of its parts in a different colour
操cāoto grasp
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 喿the sound of birds chirping · sàoSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 喿 (sào) hints at the sound. Compare it with cāo.

The character 作 (zuò) with each of its parts in a different colour
作zuòto do; to engage in
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 乍first time · zhà

Memory aidPerson 亻 with 乍 (zhà) for the sound: to make, to do.

How to write 操作

操 16 strokes · 作 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 操作

Words with 操

操场cāochǎng · playground操心cāoxīn · to worry about操练cāoliàn · to drill操纵cāozòng · to control操劳cāoláo · to work hard

Words with 作

工作gōngzuò · to work作业zuòyè · school assignment工作日gōngzuòrì · working day作者zuòzhě · author作家zuòjiā · writer动作dòngzuò · movement作用zuòyòng · effect制作zhìzuò · to make写作xiězuò · writing作文zuòwén · to write an essay

More words: Science & Technology

注册zhùcè · to register饱和bǎohé · saturated备份bèifèn · to back up标本biāoběn · specimen测量cèliáng · to measure沉淀chéndiàn · to settle创新chuàngxīn · innovation导弹dǎodàn · guided missile

FAQs

操作 (cāozuò) means “to operate” or “operation”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it cāozuò: cāo with a 1st tone, then zuò with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 操作 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type caozuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 操作 from the suggestions. Typing caozuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
操作 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.