HSK 4 · Verbs

拉 lā “to pull” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 拉 means

  1. to pull
  2. to play (a bowed instrument)
  3. to drag
  4. to draw
  5. to chat
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • (coll.) to empty one’s bowels

How to say 拉

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale拉lā1st tone, high and level

拉 in a sentence

  1. 她把我拉到一边。

    Tā bǎ wǒ lā dào yìbiān.

    She pulled me aside.

    Sentence #2242083 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你会拉小提琴吗？

    Nǐ huì lā xiǎotíqín ma?

    Can you play the violin?

    Sentence #1517747 from Tatoeba

  3. 她拉上了窗帘。

    Tā lā shàng le chuānglián.

    She drew the curtains.

    Sentence #772137 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 拉 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 拉 (lā) with each of its parts in a different colour
拉lāto pull
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 立stand · lìSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 立 (lì) hints at the sound. Compare it with lā.

How to write 拉

拉 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 拉

More words: Common Verbs

举办jǔbàn · to conduct开玩笑kāiwánxiào · to play a joke肯定kěndìng · to be certain困kùn · to trap来不及láibují · not enough time (to do something)来得及láidejí · to have enough time来自láizì · to come from (a place)浪费làngfèi · to waste

FAQs

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