HSK 4 · Verbs

照 zhào “to shine” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 照 means

  1. to shine
  2. to take (a photo)
  3. according to
  4. in accordance with
  5. to illuminate
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to reflect
  • to look at (one’s reflection)

How to say 照

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale照zhào4th tone, falling

照 in a sentence

  1. 照他说的做。

    Zhào tā shuō de zuò.

    Do as he says.

    Sentence #9415370 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你有照相机吗？

    Nǐ yǒu zhàoxiàngjī ma?

    Do you have a camera?

    Sentence #336672 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 照片是他拍的。

    Zhàopiàn shì tā pāi de.

    He took the photo.

    Sentence #385583 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 照 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 照 (zhào) with each of its parts in a different colour
照zhàoto shine
  • 昭bright · zhāoSound part
  • 灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part

灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 昭 (zhāo) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhào.

Memory aidFire 灬 under 昭 (zhāo) “bright”: to shine, to light up, and also a photo.

How to write 照

照 13 strokes

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

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

Words related to 照

Words with 照

照顾zhàogu · take care of护照hùzhào · passport照片zhàopiàn · picture拍照pāizhào · to take a photo照相zhàoxiàng · to take a photo照相机zhàoxiàngjī · camera按照ànzhào · according to执照zhízhào · licence照常zhàocháng · as usual参照cānzhào · to refer to

More words: Common Verbs

预习yùxí · to prepare a lesson约会yuēhuì · appointment允许yǔnxǔ · to permit增加zēngjiā · to raise整理zhěnglǐ · to arrange只好zhǐhǎo · to have no other option but to …指zhǐ · finger转zhuǎn · to turn

FAQs

照 (zhào) means “to shine” or “to take (a photo)”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it zhào: zhào with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 照 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 照 from the suggestions. Typing zhao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
照 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.