HSK 5 · Education

写作 xiězuò “writing” in Chinese

Traditional 寫作

What 写作 means

  1. writing
  2. to write
  3. to compose
  4. written works

How to say 写作

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale写xiě3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale作zuò4th tone, falling

写作 in a sentence

  1. 她靠写作生活。

    Tā kào xiězuò shēnghuó.

    She makes a living from writing.

    Sentence #375285 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 她的写作很好。

    Tā de xiězuò hěn hǎo.

    Her writing is very good.

    Sentence #788164 from Tatoeba

  3. 她教阅读和写作。

    Tā jiāo yuèdú hé xiězuò.

    She teaches reading and writing.

    Sentence #844508 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 写作 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 写 (xiě) with each of its parts in a different colour
写xiěto write
  • 冖cover · mì
  • 与and · yǔ
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 写作

写 5 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.

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

Words related to 写作

Words with 写

写xiě · to write描写miáoxiě · to describe

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作文zuòwén · to write an essay合作hézuò · to cooperate

More words: Education & Learning

提纲tígāng · outline题目tímù · subject文字wénzì · writing物理wùlǐ · physics学历xuélì · educational background学问xuéwèn · learning训练xùnliàn · to train幼儿园yòu'éryuán · kindergarten

FAQs

写作 (xiězuò) means “writing” or “to write”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it xiězuò: xiě with a 3rd 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.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 写作 is written 寫作. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiezuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 写作 from the suggestions. Typing xiezuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
写作 is an HSK 5 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.