HSK 5 · Verbs

摇 yáo “to shake” in Chinese

Traditional 搖

What 摇 means

  1. to shake
  2. to rock
  3. to row
  4. to crank

How to say 摇

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale摇yáo2nd tone, rising

摇 in a sentence

  1. 他摇了摇儿子的肩。

    Tā yáo le yáo érzi de jiān.

    He shook his son by the shoulder.

    Sentence #346688 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 狗跟着主人，摇着尾巴。

    Gǒu gēn zhe zhǔrén, yáo zhe wěiba.

    The dog followed its owner, wagging its tail.

    Sentence #9518684 from Tatoeba

  3. 使用前摇动一下瓶子。

    Shǐyòng qián yáodòng yíxià píngzi.

    Shake the bottle before use.

    Sentence #839103 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 摇 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 摇 (yáo) with each of its parts in a different colour
摇yáoto shake
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 䍃vase · yáoSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 䍃 (yáo) hints at the sound. Compare it with yáo.

How to write 摇

摇 13 strokes

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

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

Words related to 摇

Words with 摇

摇摆yáobǎi · to sway摇滚yáogǔn · rock music

More words: Common Verbs

休闲xiūxián · leisure修改xiūgǎi · to amend寻找xúnzhǎo · to seek延长yáncháng · to prolong咬yǎo · to bite移动yídòng · to move应付yìngfu · to deal with应用yìngyòng · to put to use

FAQs

摇 (yáo) means “to shake” or “to rock”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it yáo: yáo with a 2nd 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, 摇 is written 搖. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 摇 from the suggestions. Typing yao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
摇 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.