HSK 3 · Verbs

打扫 dǎsǎo “to clean” in Chinese

Said as dásǎo

Traditional 打掃

What 打扫 means

  1. to clean
  2. to sweep

How to say 打扫

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale打dǎ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale扫sǎo3rd tone, dipping

Said as dásǎo. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

打扫 in a sentence

  1. 他讨厌打扫自己的房间。

    Tā tǎoyàn dǎsǎo zìjǐ de fángjiān.

    He hates cleaning his room.

    Sentence #4789635 from Tatoeba

  2. 她总是把自己的房子打扫得很干净。

    Tā zǒngshì bǎ zìjǐ de fángzi dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng.

    She always keeps her house very clean.

    Sentence #436016 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我希望所有人都来帮我打扫房子。

    Wǒ xīwàng suǒyǒu rén dōu lái bāng wǒ dǎsǎo fángzi.

    I’d like everyone to come and help me clean the house.

    Sentence #2694360 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 打扫 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 打 (dǎ) with each of its parts in a different colour
打dǎto hit; to strike
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 丁part of the characterSound part

Memory aidA hand 扌 striking a nail 丁: to hit. It is now used for many actions, such as 打电话 (dǎ diànhuà) “to phone”.

The character 扫 (sǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
扫sǎoto sweep
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒu
  • 彐snout · jì

Memory aidA hand 扌 holding a broom 彐: to sweep. In the full form 掃 the broom is 帚.

How to write 打扫

打 5 strokes · 扫 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 打扫

Words with 打

打电话dǎ diànhuà · to make a phone call打dǎ · to hit打车dǎchē · to take a taxi (in town)打开dǎkāi · to open打篮球dǎlánqiú · to play basketball打算dǎsuàn · to plan打扮dǎban · to decorate打扰dǎrǎo · to disturb打印dǎyìn · to print (with a printer)打折dǎzhé · to give a discount

Words with 扫

扫sǎo · to sweep

More words: Common Verbs

包bāo · to cover变化biànhuà · change参加cānjiā · participate迟到chídào · arrive late打算dǎsuàn · to plan带dài · band发fā · send out发现fāxiàn · discover

FAQs

打扫 (dǎsǎo) means “to clean” or “to sweep”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it dǎsǎo: dǎ with a 3rd tone, then sǎo with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like dásǎo. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. 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, 打扫 is written 打掃. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dasao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 打扫 from the suggestions. Typing dasao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
打扫 is an HSK 3 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.